NEW ORLEANS - A recent audit of the University of New Orleans (UNO) revealed discrepancies in payments to certain university employees as well as a misuse of millions in federal funds, according to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's office.

The state auditor's office reports that an analysis of UNO's paperwork shows the institution overpaid its non-academic, unclassified employees an estimated $172,800 after it changed its payroll payment structure in January 2019 from twice a month to every two weeks.

In addition, auditors say UNO inadvertently excluded more than $27 million in Federal Direct Student Loans from the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards information for fiscal year 2020. 

Auditors also report that UNO did not have a documented risk assessment in place as required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and UNO’s Program Participation Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education for federal student financial assistance programs. 

The audit report further revealed that UNO failed to reconcile School Account Statement data files to the institution’s financial records for Federal Direct Student Loan borrowers each month, a procedure that is mandated by federal regulations.

Click here to view the full audit report.