Ranking Member Scott Slams Bill that May Limit Students' Access to Financial Aid

Ranking Member Scott Slams Bill that May Limit Students' Access to Financial Aid

WASHINGTON - Today, Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, House Committee on Education and Workforce, spoke in opposition to H.R. 7892, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act.

Watch Ranking Member Scott's remarks on YouTube.

Here is a transcript of his remarks:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 7892, the so-called No Aid for Ghost Students Act.

"Let me state on the outset that protecting taxpayer dollars and preventing fraud in our student federal aid programs is always a good idea. As stewards of the public funds, we should all agree that fraud should be identified, investigated, and stopped. But this bill is not about a thoughtful, evidence-based solution, its supporters claim.

"The bill would direct the Department of Education to create an identity fraud detection system within the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process and authorize the Department to open accelerated program reviews against colleges.

"Mr. Speaker, I've got to point out that the Department of Education just recently, this past April, launched a new identity fraud detection system as a part of the FAFSA process. That system is still being tested, and Congress has not yet seen meaningful evidence about its effectiveness or its impact on students. Yet, this legislation would rush to codify requirements and penalties before we know whether the Department's current efforts are even working.

"Federal student aid helps nearly 13 million students every year who are pursuing higher education and economic opportunity. However, the bill's creation of vague enforcement standards and punitive mandates without clear guidance for students and institutions risks making it harder for legitimate students to access the aid they need to attend college.

"For example, we don't have evaluations on the effect this bill may have on legitimate students who are incorrectly flagged as suspicious. The bill prohibits colleges from distributing funds to those students until the suspicion is cleared up. These students could face hardships obtaining housing, transportation, or even buying books for who knows how long.

"Mr. Speaker, we should allow the Department's new anti-fraud system to operate and wait for the Department to evaluate the results. The Department should work with colleges, financial aid administrators, and fraud experts to determine what additional tools and guardrails may be necessary. Codifying this new system, without assessing its effectiveness, just doesn't make any sense.

"Moreover, H.R. 7892 could reasonably be viewed as part of a broader strategy to weaponize student aid. The Trump Administration has issued numerous threats and made efforts to withhold Title IV funding as a weapon of ideological control over educational institutions. Already, this Administration has rewritten the accreditation handbook, threatened funding to select institutions that violate its legally dubious executive orders, and embedded ideological conditions into annual participation agreements.

"The bill would give the Administration another tool to further target colleges by allowing the Department to initiate and conduct program reviews based on little evidence. In fact, during the Committee's debate on the bill, Committee Democrats sought to have a clear definition of what 'reasonable suspicion of identity fraud' actually means in the legislation. Regretfully, the bill has made its way to the Floor without addressing this concern. As a result, the vague language in the bill could enable the Trump Administration to weaponize fraud investigations to target certain colleges or states.

"Fraud prevention and student access to affordable college education are not competing goals. We can achieve both. Unfortunately, this bill does not strike that balance.

"For that reason, I urge my colleagues to vote no, and I reserve the balance of my time."

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