Expenses of Training at Non-Government Facilities

An employee of the Department of the Interior (DOI) claimed reimbursement of tuition expenses incurred at the University of Guam, a non-Government facility. The record showed that while the claimant was working at Guam as an auditor, he undertook a course of instruction during off-duty time that culminated in a Masters Degree in Business Administration. DOI headquarters found that nine of the courses had not been approved by a DOI authorizing training official prior to enrollment, which precluded reimbursement. The claimant argued that the nine courses were at least as job related as the two courses which DOI did provide reimbursement, and that prior approval for training could be waived, as actually occurred in the reimbursement for the previous two courses. Tuition expenses for the nine courses may not be reimbursed because there was no prior approval before commencement by an appropriate administrative officer that these expenses would be reimbursed as part of the DOI training program. GAO has also held that payment for the previous two courses without prior approval was contrary to DOI regulations and therefore erroneous. Collection of the erroneous payment, however, would be against equity and good conscience and not in the best interest of the Government. Therefore, collection was waived.