FEMA Should Recover $46.2 Million of Improper Contracting Costs from Federal Funds Awarded to the Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, New Orleans, Louisiana

Our audit objective was to determine whether Tulane accounted for and expended Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funds according to Federal regulations and FEMA guidelines. The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP), FEMA grantee, awarded Tulane the gross amount of $291.9 million for damages resulting lrom Hurricane Katrina, which occurred on August 29, 2005. As shown in table 1, Tulane's insurance proceeds as of June 2011 and a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan reduced the gross amount to a net aWird of $ 153.1 million.