FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The U.S. Department of Education released a report that says Florence-Darlington Technical College owes $1.6 million as a result of not properly documenting Title IV funds.

In a Final Program Review Determination document sent to Dr. Ben Dillard, III, President Florence-Darlington Technical College, the U.S. Department of Education states findings from a program review of FDTC administration of programs authorized by the Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 reveals the college owes $1,661,939.

The original review report was dated May 24, 2016 and any appeals that FDTC wished to make would have to be made within 45 days of receiving the Final Program Review Determination, which was dated Dec. 18, 2017. A call to the U.S. Department of Education Thursday morning reveals FDTC has filed no appeal in the claim that the school owes $1.6 million.

In short, the 35-page document states “FDTC did not have a policy in place to identify all unofficially withdrawn students. As a result, the institution did not identify, calculate and return unearned Title IV funds to eth applicable federal program for students who unofficially withdrew on or before the 60% point of the payment period.”

The report goes on to say that because FDTC didn’t have a policy in place to properly document when students withdrew, at which point the college is legally obligated to complete Return to Title IV Funds calculations, the problem was “systemic.”

In addition, FDTC was required to review its own records to confirm each student’s last day of attendance for each class. If a student had all non-passing grades and college officials couldn’t confirm that the student completed at least one class in the term, FDTC was required to provide that information to the Department of Education.

In its response, FDTC agrees that it did not have a policy that allowed school officials to identify unofficially withdrawn students.

FDTC also failed to monitor if students were meeting academic standards. The document reports that 225 students from the 2014-2015 award year did not meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress expectations while receiving Title IV funds. The ineligible students received $910,847 in Title IV funds.

Violations over the course of 2014-2016 tally up to $1.6 million owed to the U.S. Department of Education. FDTC was instructed to pay the amount using an electronic transfer process within 45 days of the letter.

News13 reached out to FDTC officials on how they plan to repay the money, but our phone calls were not returned.