"For years, the system has wrestled with bots and ghost students, scammers who pose as students, enroll online and disappear with financial aid money."
"Between January and March 2025, ghost students made off with almost $5.6 million in federal student aid and over $900,000 in state aid. But monthly reports show the system has stemmed the scams significantly: This spring, colleges lost about $1.5 million in federal student aid and about $330,000 in state aid to fraud, CalMatters found."
"The California Community Colleges system has faced scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers over the issue. Republicans in Congress called for a federal investigation into the financial aid scams last year, and state lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, urged a state audit."
"The system has since upped its vetting processes and the chancellor's office launched a new ID verification policy for applicants last year, which is optional for now but will become mandatory in July. About half of students have gone through the ID verificationprocess as of this month."
California community colleges have reduced losses from fraudulent students who use bots and ghost enrollments to obtain federal and state financial aid. Between January and March 2025, ghost students stole nearly $5.6 million in federal aid and more than $900,000 in state aid. Monthly reporting shows a significant decline this spring, with losses dropping to about $1.5 million in federal aid and about $330,000 in state aid. Federal and state lawmakers have scrutinized the problem and called for investigations and audits. The system increased vetting and launched an ID verification policy that is optional now but becomes mandatory in July, with about half of students already completing verification. College leaders aim for zero fraud.
#financial-aid-fraud #california-community-colleges #student-verification #ghost-students #state-and-federal-funding
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]