Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Beta This is a new resource

Series: Review of Institutions of Higher Education Grantees Receiving National Institutes of Health Awards

Announced on  | Last Modified on  | Series Number: SRS-A-25-014
Status
Active
Agency
National Institutes of Health

OBJECTIVE

More than 80 percent of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding is awarded through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions located in every State and around the world. OIG has identified areas of potential risk at institutions of higher education receiving NIH awards such as inappropriate or unsupported charges to Federal awards, lack of financial conflict-of-interest polices, and deficiencies in internal control related to the financial management system. In addition, Congress, NIH, and Federal intelligence agencies have raised concerns about foreign threats to the integrity of U.S. medical research and intellectual property at institutions of higher education. Our objective will be to determine whether institutions of higher education (1) managed NIH awards to ensure allowability of costs in accordance with Federal and award requirements, and (2) met Federal conflict-of-interest requirements.

There are 2 projects in this series.

Project titles will remain unpublished until projects are complete and reports are posted.

ACTIVE PROJECTS IN THIS SERIES (1)

Project OAS-25-02-069 • Announced on Jun 16, 2020

COMPLETED PROJECTS IN THIS SERIES (1)

New York Medical College

Project A-04-20-03583 • Completed on May 10, 2024

TIMELINE

  • June 16, 2020
    Series Number SRS-A-25-014 Assigned
  • June 16, 2020
    Projects Announced

    New York Medical College - A-04-20-03583

  • Project OAS-25-02-069

  • May 10, 2024
    Project Complete - A-04-20-03583

    New York Medical College has been marked as complete. This audit resulted in 10 recommendations.

  • Today
    1 Audit In-Progress
  • Est FY2026
    Estimated Fiscal Year for Series Completion

1 REPORT PUBLISHED

New York Medical College Claimed Unallowable Grant Costs and Did Not Meet Certain Financial Conflict of Interest Requirements (A-04-20-03583)

24-A-04-074.01 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College work with NIH to determine the allowability of $7,469,306 in salary and wages, fringe benefits, and related indirect costs that the College charged to its NIH awards during our audit period and refund any identified overpayments.

24-A-04-074.02 to NIH - Closed Acceptable Alternative
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College refund $73,515 in unallowable salary costs, cost transfers, and travel costs.

24-A-04-074.03 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by developing a policy or procedure for monitoring salaries so that they are at or under the NIH salary cap.

24-A-04-074.04 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by developing a policy or procedure that requires compensation costs to be reasonable, conform to established College policy, and be consistently applied regardless of the source of the funds and that reasonably reflects the percentage of time actually devoted to its NIH-funded projects.

24-A-04-074.05 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by working with NIH to quantify and refund any additional salary increases charged to NIH awards that were not reasonable, did not conform to established College policy, and were not consistently applied regardless of the source of funds.

24-A-04-074.06 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls completing the timely certification of employee time and effort reports to provide reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated.

24-A-04-074.07 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by establishing time requirements for employees to sign and supervisors to review effort certification forms.

24-A-04-074.08 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by developing a cost transfer policy that includes the documentation requirements contained in NIH GPS 7.5.

24-A-04-074.09 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by providing employees training on the specific types of travel expenses that the College considers non-reimbursable, such as alcohol and airline seat selection fees and training on the documentation needed to support travel costs.

24-A-04-074.10 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 11/13/2024
We recommend that New York Medical College strengthen its internal controls by monitoring key individuals' completion of annual FCOI disclosure forms and completion of required FCOI training.

View in Recommendation Tracker
Work Plan Type
Office of Audit Services
HHS Agencies
National Institutes of Health
Issue Areas
Financial Stewardship
Target Groups
-
Financial Groups
Grants