Tuberville, Husted Make Move to Crack Down on Student Aid Fraud

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Education and the American Family, and U.S. Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) introduced the Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act. This bill would implement strong safeguards to prevent student aid fraud.

The bill would target "ghost students," a stolen or fabricated identity that impersonates a student to enroll in classes to fraudulently obtain federal and state financial aid. These scammers, often operating in coordinated, international networks, collect grants and financial aid, then disappear without ever attending classes, leaving taxpayers holding the bill.

This comes as Sens. Tuberville and Husted co-lead a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) task force centered on rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in federal funding.

"Our students spend years paying back debts from higher education institutions that are oftentimes recklessly spending their money without any sort of accountability," said Sen. Tuberville."Bad actors steal student aid funds and never pay them back-meanwhile actual students pay the price when they aren't allowed to take the courses needed to graduate. This bill creates much needed oversight that puts the student and taxpayer first and holds our universities accountable."

"Criminals are exploiting financial aid programs by impersonating students, which is wasting taxpayer dollars that could be going to the students who need it the most," said Sen. Husted."This bill would strengthen oversight capabilities at the Department of Education to ensure federal aid goes to real students while protecting hard-earned taxpayer dollars."

Sens. Tuberville and Husted were joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in introducing the bill. U.S. Congressman Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives which passed out of the Education and Workforce Committee in March.

Read full text of the bill here.

BACKGROUND:

Specifically, the Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act would create an oversight mechanism requiring the Department of Education to identify institutions that disburse federal aid to applicants flagged for potential fraud. Schools that are flagged would then be placed in a priority category for program review, audits and other oversight. Schools can be exempted if they verify student identities through an in-person or live video call, before aid is dispersed.

MORE:

Tuberville Helps Introduce Bill Targeting Financial Aid Fraud

Tuberville Introduces Bill to Prevent Illegals from Receiving Federal Student Loans

Tuberville Joins Colleagues in Introducing Legislation to Provide Transparency for Students

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Tuberville, Grassley Introduce Bill to Help Students Navigate College Costs

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

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