In March 2019, an investigation revealed a fraudulent scheme at the Professional Career Training Institute in Houston, where the school recruited homeless individuals and fabricated diplomas. Students were lured with promises of rent payment and federal grants for tuition. The school's deception included setting up federal financial aid accounts and secretly obtaining loans on behalf of students. Despite colleges receiving over $140 billion in federal student aid annually, the Department of Education had drastically cut its fraud-prevention team, halting investigations into fraudulent institutions since significant layoffs occurred after the appointment of Secretary Linda McMahon.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Education's fraud-prevention team visited a Houston trade school where several students were missing, sparking an investigation after a conversation with two students.
The Professional Career Training Institute was discovered to have recruited homeless individuals, fabricating diplomas from a non-existent high school and taking out loans on their behalf.
Colleges receive over $140 billion in federal student aid yearly, but investigations into fraudulent institutions have ceased following significant staff cuts in the Department of Education's fraud-prevention team.
In March, the new Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, dismissed more than 80 percent of the fraud-prevention and quality-assurance team, reducing departmental employment by nearly 50 percent.
#student-aid-fraud #department-of-education #professional-career-training-institute #federal-grants #investigations
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