Hoping to get some feedback on this issue. New and existing projects are stuck on 16 bit.  In my Audio Preferences it says 24 bit. yet it is grayed out. The control bar says 16 bit. When I check the audio properties of a recorded clip, it is 16 bit. 

I'm not able to change the bit rate thru preferences because it is grayed out. Any Ideas? 
Sonar X2 (64 bit)
Focusrite Pro 40 
 
SIIG FireWire 2-Port PCIe (NN-E20012-S2)
Win 8 64 Bit
Intel I3-3240CPU @340Ghz
8 Gig RAM

That is the setting for the driver. For project data check Preferences > File > Audio Data Record Bit Depth

Scook "you da man"!!!!!!!!!!!!  thanks....that was the issue.
I set the record bit depth for 24 bit.For the Render bit depth, should that be set to 16 bit for exporting?

No, leave it at the 32bit default. The render is used internally when freezing, bouncing and applying effects.  The export dialog to has an option to set the bit depth for export.