Over 7700 suspected 'ghost students'—people who take taxpayer funds for college then never show up—found in Minnesota

The Post Millennial ^ | June 15, 2026 | Thomas Stevenson

[Twotone]

Over 7,700 suspected "ghost students" have now been flagged in the Minnesota public education system. This comes as the federal government is working to crack down on fraudsters and scammers across the nation.

Scammers known as "ghost students" enroll in colleges, claim financial aid, then disappear with taxpayer funds, and the Minnesota State system, which has 33 colleges and universities, has now identified over 7,700 in the 2024-2025 school year in the public university system.

The Minnesota education system was recently given $3 million to verify students as well as identify scammers. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon has previously said in a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz that "ghost students" have cost the Minnesota public university system $12.5 million in taxpayer-funded grants.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: crime; democratcorruption; democratincompetence; education; fraud; ghoststudents; minnesota; minnesotaagain; scammers; tampontim; theft

[GingisK]

Skinnies?

[ridesthemiles]

WHO WISHES TO BET ME THAT “STUDENTS VOTE ABSENTEE FROM PARENT’S ADDRESS & IN PERSON AT CAMPUS?

DOUBLE VOTING.

[ConservaTexan]

The Minnesota education system was recently given $3 million to verify students as well as identify scammers.

Sounds like the fox guarding the hen house to me.

[redangus]

If these people are Somali and don’t have US citizenship send them all back to Mogadishu.

[Vaduz]

You get what you vote for but it ain’t da cash?.

[Zathras]

There is a reason on many social media platforms in MN, we saw “I’m getting out of here ASAP” back 6 months ago.
They knew what they were doing could get them a prison sentence.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Scammers got $13 million
State spending $3 million to verify enrollments and find fraudsters.

Sheesh. Pretty soon they’ll spend $13 million to find $13 million of fraud.

This nation should just STOP ALL THE “FREE” MONEY flow.

[frank ballenger]

See, doubters? Those little children educated in the Learing Centers ended up going to college——on paper——as no show students grifting more money.

[xp38]

The fraud is strong with this state

[Zathras]

Minneapolis universities are the secret weapon the democrats have ruled since the 60’s.
33 colleges cranking out Loonie lefty’s willing to do anything to push the left agenda.
There is a reason in ‘88, Reagan took every state except MN and DC.

[know.your.why]

WHO WISHES TO BET ME THAT “STUDENTS VOTE ABSENTEE FROM PARENT’S ADDRESS & IN PERSON AT CAMPUS?

I'll take that bet and raise you double on the bet that these people have never voted once for anything in their lives.

[MtnClimber]

[sjmjax]

Just more evidence that government, local, state & federal, has little to no business being involved with charitable causes.

Always a gateway to abuse on monumental scale.

[rdcbn1]

Student loan fraud is the the granddaddy of the multitude of welfare and healthcare fraud schemes the Democrats have been using to loot the country and enrich their supporters since the Obama Admin took direct control of the program in 2009.

The levels of fraud in the student loan program is astounding. It's so bad that it explains why student loan forgiveness has become a hill Democrats are willing to die on.

The Democrats are not trying to help cash strapped students- they are trying take fraudulent loans off the book via student loan forgiveness to cover up the fraud, protect the Democrat party from scandal and shield the fraudsters from prosecution.

[Jolla]

Back in the 1980s in California we hired Minnesota folks as fast as they could walk in the door. They were nice, had a great work ethic and were very well educated.

My guess that is no longer the case.

[Fido969]

[Liz]

While multiple high-profile, separate fraud investigations in Minnesota have heavily involved members of the local Somali community (such as the Feeding Our Future and autism program scandals), the “ghost student” enrollment fraud is primarily driven by organized cybercrime.

The “ghost student” issue involves international rings and sophisticated criminal networks. Minnesota State officials and security experts noted that these international fraud rings are often operated from overseas, including locations in Asia and Africa.

They use bots and artificial intelligence to flood open-enrollment community colleges with thousands of fraudulent applications at once.

The identities used by these fraudsters to apply for federal Pell grants and financial aid are typically stolen from real, unknowing individuals (including senior citizens and children) across the country.

Over a single academic year, the Minnesota State system flagged more than 7,700 fraudulent or potentially fraudulent applications.Investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and state entities are ongoing, leading to proposed federal legislation like the No Aid for Ghost Students Act to bolster identity verification before funds are released.

[Ford4000]

When I went to college, student loan money went directly to the school to hold in a trust account. Guess that system wasn’t enlightened enough.

[GoodBadUgly]

I wondered that too, you do get some money to live on but the majority goes to the college so how do the students end up with the money