New data shows that California community colleges have made progress in combating fraudulent students who scam the campuses for financial aid dollars, CalMatters reported.
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.
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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…
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