DENVER
Federal investigators are looking into whether the Community College of Denver made loans to students who were not eligible.
The investigation began after the Colorado Community College system notified the U.S. Department of Education of possible rules’ violations.
“In some cases, it would appear that staff knowingly circumvented processes or guidelines in order to change a student’s status to ‘eligible.’ Nothing has been uncovered that would suggest staff personally benefited from these errors,” CCCS officials wrote in an Aug. 22 letter obtained by the Rocky Mountain News.
As much as $1.4 million may be involved, though auditors say they expect it will be closer to $315,000.
Rhonda Bentz, spokeswoman for CCCS, said it is not clear what the penalties might be if its confirmed illegal loans were made. “At this point, we don’t know what the next steps will be. We don’t know whether it would be criminal or civil. That is their determination.” She said she believes the money was given mistakenly, and no fraud was involved.
The alleged violations included loans to students who were not academically eligible.
