California Community Colleges lose more than $5 million to fraudulent students
Michael Burke
April 3, 2024
California’s community colleges, since fall 2021, have distributed more than $5 million to fraudulent students, who are often bots, CalMatters reported. CalMatters cited monthly reports that the colleges must submit to the statewide chancellor’s office.
On top of the federal aid, colleges also said they have distributed almost $1.5 million in state and local aid to the fraudsters, according to CalMatters.
The community college system has been dealing with fake students since at least 2021, when suspected scammers began submitting phony applications with the goal of obtaining federal aid or Covid-19 relief grants.
Just this past January, 25% of the system’s applicants were suspected to be fraudulent, a state chancellor’s office official told CalMatters.
