Glenn W. Thompson
06/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2026 15:03
Thompson’s Bill Passes in Education Package to Prevent Student Aid Fraud
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House of Representatives passed the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026, which included U.S. Representative Glenn "GT" Thompson's (R-PA) Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act. This legislation would establish strong safeguards to prevent student aid fraud.
This issue, commonly referred to as "ghost student" fraud, refers to schemes in which bad actors use stolen or counterfeit identities to submit college admission and federal student aid applications, enroll in courses, extract federal student aid, and then vanish with the extra funds. These schemes have cost taxpayers millions of dollars and can prevent actual students from getting into classes.
"For too long, fraud has saturated federal student aid programs, costing taxpayers millions of dollars annually," Rep. Thompson said. "Today, we are installing safeguards to ensure program integrity, to prevent criminals from ripping us off, and we're making sure that deserving students have access to college classrooms."
"Fraudsters have stolen billions of taxpayer dollars from our federal student aid programs, diverting resources away from students pursuing an education. No Aid for Ghost Students Act is a common-sense solution to strengthen oversight, improve identity verification, and stop fraud before it happens-ensuring we can maintain the integrity of our federal student aid system. Every federal student aid dollar should go to a student pursuing an education, not to criminals exploiting the system," Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walburg said.
Background:
This legislation combats fraud in federal student aid by creating an oversight mechanism that would require the Education Department to identify institutions that have a pattern of disbursing federal aid to applicants flagged for potential fraud. This would place those institutions in a priority category that can allow for program reviews, audits, and other oversight activities. The legislation provides an exception for institutions that verify student identity, through in-person or live video call verification, before dispersing student aid. In addition, the package requires the Department of Education to use an identity fraud detection system to review each FAFSA application. It also requires institutions to verify the identity of those applicants flagged by the Education Department before disbursing student aid.
Read the full bill text here.
This issue, commonly referred to as "ghost student" fraud, refers to schemes in which bad actors use stolen or counterfeit identities to submit college admission and federal student aid applications, enroll in courses, extract federal student aid, and then vanish with the extra funds. These schemes have cost taxpayers millions of dollars and can prevent actual students from getting into classes.
"For too long, fraud has saturated federal student aid programs, costing taxpayers millions of dollars annually," Rep. Thompson said. "Today, we are installing safeguards to ensure program integrity, to prevent criminals from ripping us off, and we're making sure that deserving students have access to college classrooms."
"Fraudsters have stolen billions of taxpayer dollars from our federal student aid programs, diverting resources away from students pursuing an education. No Aid for Ghost Students Act is a common-sense solution to strengthen oversight, improve identity verification, and stop fraud before it happens-ensuring we can maintain the integrity of our federal student aid system. Every federal student aid dollar should go to a student pursuing an education, not to criminals exploiting the system," Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walburg said.
Background:
This legislation combats fraud in federal student aid by creating an oversight mechanism that would require the Education Department to identify institutions that have a pattern of disbursing federal aid to applicants flagged for potential fraud. This would place those institutions in a priority category that can allow for program reviews, audits, and other oversight activities. The legislation provides an exception for institutions that verify student identity, through in-person or live video call verification, before dispersing student aid. In addition, the package requires the Department of Education to use an identity fraud detection system to review each FAFSA application. It also requires institutions to verify the identity of those applicants flagged by the Education Department before disbursing student aid.
Read the full bill text here.
Glenn W. Thompson published this content on June 10, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 10, 2026 at 21:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]