California community colleges reported nearly $10.3 million in financial aid fraud in 2024
Lysee Mitri
February 20, 2025
California Community Colleges lose millions to financial aid fraud each year, even as the schools have bolstered their fraud detection and prevention measures.
The Chancellor’s Office said colleges saw an unprecedented increase in fraudulent applications during the COVID-19 pandemic when more classes shifted online.
“It started when the criminal groups, mostly transnational, started realizing how easy it was to steal from government programs,” said Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Government Business.
Scammers can use fake identities to apply to community colleges, enroll in classes and then try to get financial aid — money they just take and run.
“Getting that ‘.edu’ email address, it’s worth its weight in gold,” Talcove said.
In 2021, California Community Colleges started tracking the issue and coming up with new strategies to combat it. Over the years, colleges have added layers of protection, like identity verification measures and resistance to bots.
