Ghost Students, Real Damage: How Colleges Can Fight Back Against Financial Aid Fraud

Higher education is facing a quiet but costly crisis: the rise of the ghost student.

“Ghost students” are not just overwhelmed freshmen who give up on attending classes. They refer to fraudulent enrollments that exploit financial aid. These individuals use fake or stolen identities to exploit the college admissions and funding process. Although they appear on class rosters, they never actually attend any classes, ultimately vanishing with thousands of dollars in public aid. This leaves a trail of deception and exposes the institution to financial loss, academic disruption and significant risk.

According to ABC News,

• In California in 2024, community colleges reported 1.2 million fraudulent Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications, resulting in 223,000 confirmed fake enrollments, and at least $11.1 million in aid lost that could not be recovered.
• Across the country, scams are evolving: AI-driven chatbots are now enrolling in online courses, submitting assignments and collecting Federal aid checks before disappearing.

This isn’t an isolated glitch. It’s a systemic problem that’s already impacted colleges across the country. A recent Fortune investigation revealed the extent of the issue, particularly within State-funded and community colleges. 

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening—and how schools can take action.

What Ghost Students Are Really Costing Colleges

Draining Financial Aid Funds

Ghost students are exploiting the very programs designed to make education more accessible. By submitting fake applications and filing for FAFSA, they’re securing grants and loans that should go to real students.

• Millions of taxpayer dollars are being misappropriated.
  
  
• Real students face delays or reductions in funding.
  
  
• Colleges could be subject to additional Federal review related to institutional oversight.
  
  

Blocking Real Students from Classes

When ghost students enroll in courses, they take up space in classes with limited capacity.  Real students are waitlisted or forced to delay required coursework causing. 

• Retention and graduation timelines to be negatively affected.
  
  
• Institutions appear to have higher demand than they do, skewing planning and resourcing.
  
  

Creating Chaos for Faculty

Faculty are on the front lines but often lack the tools to act.  Professors see names on rosters that never attend class or engage online.  They waste time managing attendance and grading systems for non-existent students.  In some systems, participation verification ties directly to financial aid distribution, making instructors unwilling fraud gatekeepers.

Undermining Academic Integrity

Some ghost students now use AI tools to simulate engagement, submitting auto-generated assignments or quizzes just enough to avoid detection.  This adds new complexity to academic fraud detection systems.  It creates a misleading sense of engagement and learning outcomes.  It diminishes the credibility of online and hybrid learning models.

Eroding Institutional Trust

When ghost student scams become public, institutions face:

• Loss of public trust from taxpayers and lawmakers.
  
  
• Stricter audits and compliance measures from Federal and State agencies.
  
  
• Damage to brand reputation, especially for open-access colleges already facing enrollment challenges.
  
  

Best Practices to Combat Ghost Student Fraud

The good news? Colleges and universities can take clear, effective steps to combat ghost student fraud—without disrupting the experience of legitimate applicants and learners.

1. Strengthen Identity Verification at Enrollment

• Require secure identity checks—such as photo ID uploads, Government document validation or third-party identity verification services.
  
  
• Consider real-time methods (e.g., liveness checks or short video interviews) for applicants flagged as high-risk.
  
  
• Cross-reference application data with trusted third-party sources (address, SSN, IP) to verify legitimacy.
  
  

2. Monitor for Behavioral and Digital Red Flags

• Track enrollment behaviors across systems—such as IP location, email reuse or batch submissions.
  
  
• Use device fingerprinting and geolocation to detect patterns consistent with coordinated fraud.
  
  
• Flag applications originating from anonymized networks (e.g., VPNs, Tor) or unusual time patterns.
  
  

3. Audit Student Engagement After Enrollment

• Regularly review course engagement data: login frequency, assignment submissions and participation metrics.
  
  
• Identify students who never log in, submit the same content as others, or only “check in” once to trigger aid distribution.
  
  
• Coordinate across departments to investigate anomalies in LMS usage and academic records.
  
  

4. Empower Faculty and Staff with Reporting Tools

• Provide professors with simple tools to flag suspicious student behavior or attendance issues.
  
  
• Create workflows to escalate these reports to IT, compliance or enrollment services.
  
  
• Incorporate faculty feedback into larger fraud detection strategies and data models.
  
  

5. Automate Risk-Based Escalation

• Apply more scrutiny to applications that show unusual patterns, while keeping onboarding smooth for verified students.
  
  
• Avoid unnecessary friction by using layered security that adapts to the level of risk.
  
  
• Balance access and security, especially critical for open-access institutions serving vulnerable populations.
  
  

A Trusted Partner in the Fight Against Ghost Students

Addressing the issue of ghost students requires more than just technological solutions. It necessitates effective coordination among admissions, IT, financial aid and academic departments, along with the right combination of data, policies and personnel.

At HUMAN Security, we have assisted organizations across various industries in defending against sophisticated fraud campaigns, including fake account creation, credential abuse and automated bot attacks. Our team possesses extensive expertise in fraud detection, protecting student identity and behavioral intelligence, and we are prepared to assist higher education institutions in tackling these challenges as well.

We’re not here to sell a one-size-fits-all product—we’re here to have a conversation.

If you’re a university administrator, faculty member or IT leader concerned about ghost students, HUMAN can provide a free consultation to discuss:

• Best practices for protecting your institution
  
  
• Tailored risk assessment strategies
  
  
• How to align fraud defenses with student equity and access
  
  

Let’s work together to protect financial aid, support faculty and create a safer learning environment for real students.

Ready to talk? Contact HUMAN to start a conversation about how your institution can detect and prevent ghost student fraud before it costs your school and your students.

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