I know that it’s a fact that this is a huge problem for some schools, but I honestly don’t understand how this can happen. I don’t understand how the federal systems are approving the FAFSA for dead or ineligible people. Any person can register for a class, but the student isn’t going to get federal aid if the government does its job and rejects a FAFSA for a dead, ineligible or nonexistent person. If this step is not being properly implemented, it’s on Federal Student Aid to fix it.
Once that FAFSA is approved on the federal side, it can easily be used at multiple schools to get aid … the schools have reports from the government that identify students getting Pell at multiple schools in the same semester, but it’s too late at that point if the school issues refunds right away. I used to monitor the reports and resolve federal overawards - it’s a very manual process. We were lucky and were able to resolve these situations … that was some years ago, and most situations were a misunderstanding of rules on the part of the student … but I know that schools are now getting hit hard by these “players” & can’t recoup the money. These schools are having to implement steps to try to stay ahead of the scammers. It’s become a huge time commitment and expense.
I don’t understand how validating identity solves the problem of using dead people’s identities, though, since it’s the government that has the systems to verify deaths and eligibility for federal aid. The focus needs to be on how to identify people who enroll in multiple schools and are receiving aid at multiple schools. It’s important to identify the issues properly and address them appropriately.