U.S. Department of Education Holds First-of-its-Kind Higher Education Fraud Summit

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) held the first-of-its-kind Higher Education Fraud Summit featuring Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division Colin McDonald, and White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud Executive Director Scott Brady. The event drew over 800 participants to discuss innovative approaches to combatting fraud and abuse in the sector and highlighted the Department's successful initiatives to protect American students and taxpayers. In total, the Trump Administration's efforts to root out fraud, waste, and abuse across federal student aid programs has led to nearly $2 billion in savings.

Following opening remarks, by Acting Inspector General Mark Priebe, the Summit featured presentations by the Office of Federal Student Aid, the Department and the Office of Inspector General (OIG), as well as panel discussions by federal law enforcement, institutions of higher education, and third-party servicers on best practices that can be used to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. The Summit also spotlighted students who had their identities stolen by fraudulent actors and shared their stories at the Summit. Across all panels, the message was clear: the Department's recent efforts to prevent fraud have been resoundingly successful and the higher education community must continue to stay resolute in combatting fraud.

"Under President Trump and Secretary McMahon's leadership, the Department of Education will always put American students first," said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent. "In collaboration with Vice President Vance and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, we are taking a whole-of-government approach to saving taxpayer dollars and ensuring they never fall into the hands of criminals. We have already prevented nearly $2 billion in attempted federal student aid fraud from going to bad actors. Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from a student trying to build a better future. The Trump Administration is committed to ensuring that does not happen on our watch. Let me be clear - our work here is just getting started, and we will continue to keep our foot on the gas."

The Summit was hosted by the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) Acting Inspector General Mark E. Priebe, who noted that fighting student aid fraud has always been a top OIG priority.

Over the last 12 months, OIG investigations have resulted in more than $35 million in restitution, settlements, fines, savings, recoveries, and forfeitures. And recently, OIG investigations have led to significant prosecutive actions, including the following:

• Guilty plea by the leader of a Michigan-based fraud ring that involved the identities of more than 1,200 individuals, involving over 100 schools in 24 states, that targeted more than $16 million in Federal student aid.

• A guilty plea by a self-proclaimed "Student Loan Default Guru" who ran a website with that name, for orchestrating a $5 million Federal student loan forgiveness fraud scheme.

• Prison sentence for the leader of a North Carolina-based fraud ring that involved more than 80 people who had fraudulently enrolled in multiple schools and obtained more than $5 million in Federal student aid over an 8-year period.

The OIG encourages anyone who suspects waste, fraud, or abuse involving Federal student aid to report it to the OIG Hotline at [email protected].