State auditors flag unused scholarship funds

The Commission on Audit has called on Quirino State University (QSU) over its unused P3.6-million scholarship funds which have yet to be returned to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

In its report, state auditors said that the QSU allegedly did not remit to the CHEd the unutilized P3,651,987.50 scholarship grants for its students in 2023 despite the “completion of the semesters and school years covered.”

It also showed that the unused scholarship funds were part of the P4,202,725 outstanding balance in the overall P6,937,970 that the QSU received from CHEd last year.

The QSU, according to the state auditors, was not compliant with CoA Circular 94-013, mandating that any unused balance shall be returned to the source agency, which in this case is CHEd, upon completion of the project.

“The unutilized funds amounting to P3,651,987.50, if returned promptly to CHEd, would have been reprogrammed and utilized for other government projects, activities, and programs aimed at providing and improving the services and welfare of the public,” said the CoA.

Apart from the unused scholarship funds, CoA also found that QSU has a total of P2,660,000 receivables, which cannot be verified due to a lack of necessary files such as subsidiary ledgers or secondary documents.

“Subsidiary Ledgers are important accounting documents that provide details that make up the balance of specific general ledger accounts. Hence, the preparation and maintenance thereof is as important as the general ledger and other accounting records,” the CoA said.

In response, the QSU accountant vowed that they would adhere to CoA’s marching orders, including directing the scholarship coordinators to scrutinize the unutilized scholarship grants further and facilitate the immediate processing and return of the verified amounts to CHEd.

The CoA also warned it would review the status report containing the fund transfers and subsidiary ledgers for all the scholarships granted to the QSU.