Investigation of Government Purchase Card Use To Pay for an NPS Pathways Intern’s College Tuition

We investigated an allegation that NPS employees, at the direction of the NPS chief of interpretation and education (CIE), improperly used Government purchase cards to pay the college tuition of an NPS Pathways intern. Our investigation confirmed that three NPS staff members made payments totaling approximately $10,442 for the intern’s tuition costs. While the CIE told us that the tuition payments were justified because a degree was necessary for the intern’s career path at NPS, we learned that the intern was not actually enrolled at the school for the first semester of 2014. NPS did ensure that the intern was enrolled as of June 2014.