The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General has published its new Guide for Financial Statement Audits and Compliance Attestation Engagements of Foreign Schools (Guide). This Guide supersedes the Foreign School Audit Guide (September 2002) and the related amendments to that guide and is effective for fiscal years ending on or after December 31, 2020. Early implementation is not permitted.
Section 487(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and Section 668.23 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) require all schools participating in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs to have an annual financial and compliance audit performed by an independent auditor.
The guidance and requirements in this Guide apply to the financial statement audits and compliance attestation engagements of foreign institutions, as defined in 34 C.F.R. Section 600.52, that participate in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Foreign institutions (or foreign schools) are schools not located in a State of the Union, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
Failure to submit foreign school financial statement audits and compliance attestation engagements performed in accordance with this Guide may result in your audits being rejected. If you are a foreign school, please ensure that your auditor is using this Guide for audits of fiscal years ending on or after December 31, 2020. The Guide and the related transmittal letter are available on the OIG Non-Federal website.
Contact Information
Questions pertaining to this Guide may be directed to the Office of Inspector General’s Non‑Federal Audit Team via email to OIGNon-FederalAudit@ed.gov.