CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has barred students at the West Virginia Business College from using money from a grant program for low-income students to pay for future classes.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail (https://bit.ly/2kvExik ) reports the commission approved a resolution Friday involving the private college, which has campuses in Wheeling and Nutter Fort.
According to a commission audit, nearly $70,000 in discrepancies were found in the college’s use of the state’s Higher Education Grant program. The program helps low-income students pay for school.
The audit found half of 45 students who received grant money from the 2012 through 2015 academic years were ineligible for the award. It also found the school had been given grant money for an addition 53 students, but those students never saw the money.
The resolution prohibits the college from receiving money from the grant program in the future, including the remainder of this academic year.
The business school is appealing the decision. School general manager James Weir said the discrepancies occurred when he was not working at the school and said they won’t happen again.
“When you weren’t there, somebody else had to be in charge, and they obviously weren’t,” commission chairman Bruce Berry said.
Prior to the audit, the college had used paper records to track how it distributed the money.
The commission regularly reviews colleges for reauthorization. Commission assistant director of academic affairs Mark Stotler said a committee charged with reviewing the business college had no reason not to recommend its continued operation.
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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, https://wvgazettemail.com.
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