Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

The seven colleges of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system included in our scope generally safeguarded assets and correctly recorded financial activity for the selected financial areas we examined.  With certain exceptions, these colleges complied with significant MnSCU policies and management’s authorization for tested transactions.  As highlighted in the next section, we have several findings related to internal controls and compliance with financial legal provisions.

• Some colleges did not separate incompatible financial duties among their staff, and mitigating controls have not been defined and assessed for effectiveness. 

• One college charged unapproved tuition rates, and some colleges did not use waiver transactions appropriately or pursue delinquent receivables.

• Customized training personnel assignments were untimely or not documented at two colleges, and one college miscalculated severance payments.

• Several colleges had internal control weaknesses with procuring, documenting, and recording of various expenses. 

• Alexandria Technical College
• Anoka Technical College
• Dakota County Technical College
• Northland Community & Technical College
• South Central College
• Saint Paul College

Audit Period:
Fiscal Years 2003 - 2005

• Security Access to Computerized Financial Applications
• Tuition and Fees
• Employee Payroll
• Administrative Expenditures
• Bookstore (certain colleges only)

MnSCU’s Office of the Chancellor provides system-wide administrative management and develops policies for 32 state universities and colleges.  The MnSCU Board of Trustees appoints a president to oversee the activities at each college.  The colleges finance their operations from state appropriation allocations and tuition.  MnSCU had a total student full-year equivalent enrollment of 135,494 for fiscal year 2005, a slight decrease from fiscal year 2004.