A state investigation found that North Carolina A&T State University employees mishandled more than $5 million in financial aid funds. According to the state auditor report, the university’s business and finance division sent the money to students who didn’t meet merit or need-based criteria.
Most of the mishandled funds – over $3.2 million – went to out-of-state students. The remaining $1.8 million was improperly given to in-state students.
More than $780,000 was awarded to students who had a direct “personal or professional” connection to the university. About a third of those funds – $238,000 – went to 24 students who were family members of university employees or worked at the university themselves.
The beneficiaries of the mishandled funds included family members of the university’s former Real Estate Foundation director ($73,063), Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprise ($18,707), and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance ($14,888).
The business and finance employees also gave nearly $543,000 in financial assistance to 20 students with a personal connection to individuals in their division, including the former vice chancellor for business and finance giving preferential treatment and tuition assistance to an out-of-state student and friends (nearly $98,000 total).
“What’s been uncovered at NC A&T represents gross misconduct,” said Boliek, in a press release. He also said he made a criminal referral to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The report made 15 recommendations to improve the financial aid approval process, including that the financial aid and scholarship office make all financial assistance decisions and requiring documentation and supporting evidence for any award decisions.
Chancellor James Martin said the university first noticed the misconduct and self-reported it to the auditor’s office.
“Our students deserve to know that every dollar they pay is managed with integrity, and the corrective actions we have taken reflect that commitment,” Martin said in a press release. “We welcomed the Office of the State Auditor’s review, we support the referral to the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office and State Bureau of Investigation, and we will continue to cooperate fully.”
Those “corrective actions” include Martin mandating training for all financial aid staff, developing new policies on awarding scholarships, and an attempt to recover the mishandled funds. He is also hiring an external audit firm to look into the university’s financial aid awarding process.
Martin said he expects to complete these “corrective actions” by the end of the year.
The state auditor’s investigation into NC A&T follows a 2025 report of financial misconduct at North Carolina Central University. Then, the state auditor’s office found that NC Central had more than $45 million in financial reporting errors. The university has since fixed the errors and received a clean audit for the first time in three years back in December.