The Department of Education has made numerous changes to the eZ-Audit reporting system as part of the 90/10 regulatory changes that went into effect on July 1, 2023 for proprietary organizations; officials expect to finish the updates by June 30, 2024. These updated guidelines also apply to for-profit institutions who have “gone through or are in the process of a change in ownership to become a nonprofit or public institution and are required to report 90/10 revenue calculation.”
POSTED DATE: April 02, 2024
AUTHOR: Federal Student Aid
ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT ID: GENERAL-24-30
SUBJECT: Updates on the Use of eZ-Audit for the Electronic Submission of Annual Financial and Compliance Audit Statements for Proprietary Institutions
This Electronic Announcement outlines annual financial statements and compliance audit submission guidance, including the 90/10 revenue footnote disclosure, for proprietary institutions with fiscal years that begin on or after January 1, 2023, with completed financial statements and compliance audits ready for submission. This Electronic Announcement also applies to proprietary institutions that have gone through or are in the process of a change in ownership to become a nonprofit or public institution and are required to report 90/10 revenue calculation.
On October 28, 2022, final regulations amending the 90/10 revenue reporting requirements and calculation were published in the Federal Register with an effective date of July 1, 2023. More information may be found in:
- The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-VI/part-668/subpart-B/section-668.28.
- Department of Education’s list of frequently asked questions and answers on the 90/10 requirements: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/90-10-q-and-a.html.
The 90/10 regulatory updates require that we make extensive updates to the eZ-Audit reporting system to accommodate the regulatory changes, and these updates remain in progress. We ask that proprietary institutions postpone submitting their annual financial statements and compliance audits until these eZ-Audit updates are complete. The Department will purge any annual proprietary institution submission submitted for fiscal years ending on or after December 31, 2023 from the eZ-Audit system. If purged, institutions will need to resubmit when we release the eZ-Audit update.
Per 34 CFR 668.28, institutions must continue to adhere to the 90/10 regulatory reporting requirements. Institutions must report failure of the 90/10 Revenue requirement no later than 45 days after the end of its fiscal year, or immediately thereafter if subsequent information is obtained that shows an institution incorrectly determined that it passed the revenue requirement in a prior fiscal year. Institutions must report failures of the 90/10 Revenue requirement to FSAFinancialAnalysisDivision@ed.gov.
The regulatory updates to eZ-Audit are expected to be complete prior to the June 30, 2024, submission deadline for institutions with a fiscal year end of December 31, 2023.
Effective Date
The guidance in this announcement remains in place until additional guidance is released.
Contact
For questions concerning the Electronic Submission of Annual Financial and Compliance Audit Statements requirement, please send an email to: fsaezaudit@ed.gov.