HAMMOND - The state auditor's office reports that a recent analysis of Southeastern Louisiana University's records revealed serious flaws in the school's financial aid department; the issues led to students receiving a total of $589,770 in error.

Auditors found that the university lacked a process to determine if students were eligible to receive financial assistance and as a result of this discrepancy, 94 students borrowed $552,647 more than what is allowed in Federal Direct Student Loans. 

In addition to this, some of these students incorrectly received payments totaling $34,123 in Federal Pell Grants and $3,000 in Federal Perkins Loans. 

The auditor's report went on to reveal that Southeastern also failed to accurately report construction costs for the Computer Science and Technology building as of June 30, 2018, which caused an $18.6 million overstatement and required a readjustment of the prior-year’s financial statement. 

The university made yet another error by submitting inaccurate information about the Federal Direct Loans program for the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards for the 2019 fiscal year and overstated the balance for Federal Perkins Loans – Federal Capital Contributions.

Click here for details from the state auditor's report on Southeastern University.