A fake enrollment scam is not only giving California community colleges a major headache, it’s also crowding out legitimate students.
Fraudsters are stealing identities to enroll in the colleges to steal financial aid. About 20% or 460,000 requests to the state’s online application since July have been fake, according to the Chancellor’s Office, which oversees the 116 campuses.
The system’s screening software blocked just half of the fraudsters, while the rest slipped through to try to enroll in online classes, then use their bogus student status to seek financial aid.
“We’ve worked really hard to close obvious — and less than obvious — routes for people to pretend to be from the United States and pretend to be from California,” said John Hetts, an executive vice chancellor with the state. But because so many phony applications make it through, “all colleges have to deal with this.”
I don’t know about all CCCs of course, but for our local CC, tuition is waived, and students are eligible for stipends which are paid to the student (along with other benefits).
As long as a student is enrolled, financial aid can be disbursed up to 10 days in advance of the first day of the semester. At a community college, Pell and SEOG might exceed direct costs, so there could be a refund of grant money prior to the start of the semester. In addition, a student could borrow for living expenses, receiving a refund prior to the start of the semester. If the student never shows up for class, they are required to repay all money … but they won’t in the scams that are run.
What I can’t figure out is how this can be done with bots. Federal financial aid requires a FAFSA, which requires confirmation of name, SSN, citizenship, etc with federal databases. So are the scam students people whose identity has been stolen?
Considering how much identity information has been stolen, it could very well be that the scammers are using large amounts of stolen identity information.
It’s done by real people too, to the max. They enroll in community college. They get a Pell Grant because they report no income. They register for fin aid, and get subsidized loans to cover living expenses. They will never go to class, never intend to pay back the money. They live on this money, paying for their drugs and alcohol with it, usually while living in a parent’s basement, since the parent knows that if they kick the young adult out, he will likely be dead within a year or two.
That’s been happening for years, but the story mentions bots, which had me confused. Federal Student Aid came up with an unusual enrollment history verification flag to help combat students who enroll & drop in order to get aid. It’s also why a lot of schools hold refunds for first-time students. If a student comes to class even for a day, they “earn” a portion of their aid, so schools often have a requirement that will prove attendance. But the not thing is a new one for me.
Ugh. If they borrow, the real person has to deal with the repercussions.
But wow … it seems to be focusing on Pell grants. It’s amazing that there are organized rings stealing Pell grants. I guess if there’s a way to cheat, people will find it. It’s just awful.
