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WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) sent a letter to Department of Education Inspector General Sandra Bruce raising concerns about considerable fraud within the federal student financial aid system and demanding answers on the Department’s efforts to prevent and remedy these issues. 
 
In the letter the lawmakers write: “We write to express our concerns about an issue that continues to plague the federal student financial aid system: student aid fraud. Loosely affiliated groups of criminals have been exploiting low cost or free programs by using the identities of others (with or without their consent) to obtain federal student aid fraudulently. … From the fall of 2021 through the present, over $5 million in federal student aid has been fraudulently paid to individuals who enrolled at California community colleges, received financial aid, and did not attend college. … The personal toll on students who are prevented from improving their lives through education, as well as the financial toll on this nation, is unacceptable.” 
 
The lawmakers continue: “This type of fraud is not new: in Fiscal Year 2011, the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Education (Department) investigated federal student aid programs and discovered that the fraud included ‘enroll[ing] numerous times under different names,’ ‘falsify[ing] information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid,’ and ‘initiate[ing] other schemes to receive [student federal aid] funds illegally.’ When financial aid requirements were reinstated after having been earlier relaxed to make it easier for students to qualify for financial aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘college officials said they expected fraud to subside.’ Unfortunately, the fraud has continued to increase.”
 
The lawmakers conclude: “Fraud is unacceptable. It is important that the Department takes all necessary steps to increase fraud detection and preventative measures. We request a briefing for our staff no later than May 8, 2024, to understand better what your work has revealed and the steps the Department is doing to prevent, manage, and reduce fraud in the federal student financial aid system.” 
 
To read the full letter, click here. 

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