Report: Feds scrutinize Morris Brown's financial aid practices

ATLANTA - Federal authorities are investigating the possible misuse of millions of dollars in student financial aid at Morris Brown College, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in Sunday&#39;s editions. <br> <br> Morris Brown obtained federal grants and loans for students who were ineligible for aid, according to U.S. Department of Education records obtained by the newspaper through the federal Freedom of Information Act. <br> <br> Morris Brown must repay $5.4 million to the federal government because it hasn&#39;t proven the aid went to the right students between 1995 and 2002. It owes more than $1 million to the state. <br> <br> The federal review began in April 2001. <br> <br> A department review during the 2000-2001 school year showed discrepancies that could have led to the school getting $3 million more than it was due. If the state can&#39;t justify the discrepancies, it will have to return that money as well. <br> <br> Records show a Morris Brown employee in January downloaded $8 million in federal aid using the school&#39;s computer network without notifying the department. <br> <br> Most schools access federal funds as they process student aid applications. But Morris Brown had been instructed to ask for federal permission six months before the incident because of its history of mismanaging student aid. <br> <br> Bishop Frank Cummings, chairman of the trustees board, said the board didn&#39;t know of the severity of the school&#39;s financial problems. He said he repeatedly asked Dolores Cross, then the school&#39;s president, about them but was told everything was fine. <br> <br> ``When I found out they had drawn that ($8 million) ... I hit the ceiling,&#39;&#39; Cummings said. <br> <br> After the withdrawal, the department required Morris Brown to provide student loans with its own funds then seek reimbursementa restriction rarely placed on a college. <br> <br> Cross resigned in February. She could not be reached for comment. <br> <br> The Georgia Student Finance Commission, the state agency overseeing financial aid, received dozens of calls as far back as 1994 from students and parents complaining about financial aid problems at the school. <br> <br> In February 2001, the Georgia Student Finance Authority, a lender of student aid, said it would no longer give loans to Morris Brown students. <br> <br> Robert Brooks, director of the authority&#39;s state loans division, said the Department of Education told him that the college knowingly kept the excess student aid money. <br> <br> ``If the student does not show up for school, they just keep the money until someone calls to ask for it back,&#39;&#39; he wrote to Glenn Newsome, executive director of the Georgia Student Finance Commission. <br> <br> In September 2001, the Department of Education sent Cross a list of 148 names of people who had received financial aid for the fall semester but were not on the rolls at Morris Brown. <br> <br> ``It appears that these students never attended Morris Brown College and the funds received on their behalf were never returned,&#39;&#39; the reported stated. <br> <br> School president Charles Taylor said sloppy record-keeping, an inexperienced aid staff and frequent shifts in staff and management are to blame for the problems. He said the private college is $23 million in debt. <br> <br> Since the fall semester began this year, the school has not received any financial aid money because of inaccurate or incomplete records it repeatedly submitted, according to federal records. <br> <br> Taylor, who took charge of Morris Brown in mid-September, said the school is frantically trying to get its records in order. <br> <br> ``If I don&#39;t get this cleaned up now for these students who are currently enrolled so we can turn on the resources spigot ... we won&#39;t be here,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed Morris Brown on probation in December 2001 for shoddy record-keeping. A crucial accreditation review is scheduled for next month. The agency will decide whether to end probation or strip Morris Brown of its accreditation. <br> <br> More than 90 percent of Morris Brown&#39;s 2,547 students depend on financial aid.