Posted on 05/28/2025 5:53:27 AM PDT by karpov
Every year, postsecondary institutions of all kinds distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in student financial aid across the United States—not to mention the tens of billions in aid allocated by state governments and institutions of higher learning themselves. Such aid ranges from loans with well-below-market interest rates to flat-out grants (such as Pell Grants), the lion’s share of which are propped up by taxpayer dollars. Since the end of the Second World War, America has invested heavily in higher education, for good reason. But a recent spike in financial-aid fraud is syphoning taxpayer dollars away from their intended purpose: enabling more Americans to attend and graduate from a postsecondary institution.
The threat of financial-aid fraud was recently highlighted by disturbing reports from California’s expansive community-college system. According to reporting, hucksters stole at least $11 million from the system in 2024. While $11 million is chump change in the grand scheme of our nation’s higher-education system, the rise in fraud is alarming. Fraud reported by California’s two-year colleges increased by a shocking 454 percent in the last two years, up significantly from just under $2 million in 2022.
These figures should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, as schools have improved their ability to detect fraud in the last several years. Nevertheless, the trend seems to be at least partially the result of the proliferation of remote learning, with some fraudsters going so far as to deploy AI tools to complete assignments and “attend” virtual classes. As it turns out, sorting real students from fake ones is quite difficult in the digital world.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
If you feed the beast, it will destroy you when it develops contempt for you. In case you haven't noticed, the institutions of America have nothing but contempt for you.
Simmer on that a bit.
“If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.”
― Frank Zappa
Not surprised these unsecured loans are being targeted by fraudsters, I suspect there is more than the $11 million being reported.
And, BTW, $11 million is not “chump change.”
Lazy people have set up a system so that they don't have to work.
Democrats people have set up a system so that they don't have to work.
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