New York – Touro College, the New York City-based school that wants to create an allied medical services college at what is now the Orange Regional Medical Center Middletown Campus, must repay the state Education Department $3.1 million, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
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In a letter from DiNapoli’s office to State Education Commissioner Richard Mills and James Ross, president of the Higher Education Services Corporation, Touro owns the state $3.1 million that it was overpaid “because school officials certified 16 students as eligible for 21 Tuition Assistance Program awards.”
The auditors came up with that figure after testing the accuracy of the 29,349 TAP certifications the school awarded for the three-year period ended June 30, 2006, by reviewing a statistical sample of 150 randomly selected awards.
Based on the disallowed grants, DiNapoli’s audit recommends the Higher Education Services Corporation recover the $3.1 million from Touro.
“Touro disagrees with the findings of the audit and will seek an appeal,” said college spokeswoman Barbara Franklin.
Touro plans to develop a college for physical therapists, advanced nursing degrees and other allied medical professions.
The college would be part of a project by New Jersey developer Tony Danza, who plans to buy the ORMC Horton campus and redeveloping it into a multi-purpose health related facility to include aside from Touro, a nursing home, full medical college and student housing.
Danza would hope to have his new operations ready to take over when ORMC moves from Horton and Arden Hill in Goshen when its new hospital is completed in 2011.
Interesting but yet it’s something to learn from. Recently some frum employees were laid off from Touro in departments ranging from such as maintenance to professors for reason such as budget cuts only to later be replaced by different workers. Students complained about being afraid to be around some of the new employees who replaced the frum workers. Let us remember that Touro advertised as Touro/Torah. Well now we see Hashems hand openly. The money they took from the frum people will go elsewhere!!!
For the astronomical tuition that they charge can’t they get competent people to run their offices? They happen to produce gantz gutte CPA’s. Nu? Maybe hire one of their own?
16 students cost 3.1 million?
I say that touro get a bail out. now.
Touro has been inundated with accusations typical of many other successful colleges. The problem with Touro, though, is that their legal advisor claims that Touro is above board and transparent on every issue. He claims that Touro is not like other Jewish operated organizations that are not above board or transparent. Yet Touro ends up with problems discussed in the media, disproportionately more than any other Jewish operated organization.
It’s such a shame and heartbreak [at the same time!]! An institution for Higher learning that started out with so much promise, attempting to bring some pride to the larger Jewish Community, should fall into the the trap of financial (and other) shenanigans and “Shtikalach”! By their current action (of being “Legalistic” and using “Semantics” to dance around issues) instead of coming clean, they lose of the little credibility left to them. The only “Transparency” here is the figures, which don’t add up!!!
It does not mean that the 21 – 16 = 5 student difference cost $3 million.
The audit randomly selects a number of cases, and analyzes them, calculate a found error rate, and multiplies by a factor of the actual numbers.
This is the same procedure used in other audits.
I don’t know exactly how they do the math, but it is something like this:
They state they “testing the accuracy of the 29,349 TAP certifications the school awarded for the three-year period ended June 30, 2006,” – through “reviewing a statistical sample of 150 randomly selected cases…” – the audit found that 16 students were awarded 21 times.”
It is hard to believe that they meant that 16 students were EACH awarded 21 times each, meaning 16 x 21 awards! [336!] Anyone know? – elisheva
Elisheva
It means 16 students were awarded what 21 grants (16×1.31=21) The government assumes that they overpaid for every TOURO student eligible for TAP 31%.