{"id":401,"date":"2026-06-11T04:05:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401"},"modified":"2026-06-11T04:05:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:05:52","slug":"us-house-passes-bill-to-combat-ghost-federal-student-aid-applicants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401","title":{"rendered":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A bill to crack down on financial aid fraud passed the U.S. House on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018What\u2019s the alternative?\u2019: US Sens. Cruz, Cantwell urge buy-in on college sports bill<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0, which passed 249-172, would require the U.S. Department of Education to set up an identity fraud detection system for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA.<\/p>\n

Nearly 40 Democrats voted for the GOP-led bill.<\/p>\n

The bill safeguards against fraudulent \u201cghost students,\u201d which lawmakers say have cost taxpayers millions of dollars by applying for federal student aid and college under stolen identities and enrolling in classes, only to later disappear with such funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The measure would codify a FAFSA\u00a0fraud detection tool already underway at the Education Department and comes as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration pursues a sweeping\u00a0anti-fraud effort across the federal government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rep. Burgess Owens, who sponsored the measure, said during floor debate Tuesday that his bill \u201cbuilds on the good work already done by the Trump administration to protect taxpayer dollars and help safeguard the integrity of the student aid system by ensuring federal aid goes to real students.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Utah Republican added that his legislation \u201ctakes a straightforward approach, identifies suspicious student aid applications and ensures these applications are for who they say they are before dollars go out the door.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A similar,\u00a0bipartisan effort was introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said her department was \u201cproud\u201d to see the House pass the bill, which she said \u201cwill cement our ongoing efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse by requiring screening for suspicious federal student aid applications,\u201d in a Wednesday statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Day One, the Trump Administration has been committed to restoring existing fraud detection capabilities while building the most comprehensive fraud-detection system in the Department\u2019s history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fraud detection system<\/h4>\n

Under the bill, the Education secretary would be required to use the identity fraud detection system to assess each FAFSA submitted on or after Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

Read more NC lawmakers push free college tuition to combat public safety worker shortage<\/a><\/p>\n

If a \u201creasonable suspicion of identity fraud\u201d on the FAFSA is presented, the secretary must notify the applicant and the schools designated on the application that they are subject to \u201cadditional identity verification requirements\u201d before they can receive federal financial aid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bill also requires both an annual audit of the system and a report to Congress on its effectiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The measure loops in provisions from\u00a0a separate bill from Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson that also aims to combat student aid fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That includes a requirement that the Education secretary prioritize program reviews of institutions that have \u201cdemonstrated a pattern\u201d of providing federal financial aid to students whose FAFSA \u201cpresented a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Vague enforcement standards\u2019\u00a0<\/h4>\n

Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, voiced his opposition to the measure during floor debate Tuesday, saying the bill \u201ccould reasonably be viewed as part of a broader strategy to weaponize student aid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Virginia Democrat noted that while preventing federal student aid fraud and protecting taxpayer dollars \u201cis always a good idea,\u201d the bill\u2019s \u201ccreation of vague enforcement standards and punitive mandates without clear guidance\u201d for schools and students could make it more difficult for legitimate students to access aid in order to attend college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scott also pointed to the Education Department\u2019s April launch of an identity fraud detection system, saying Congress should allow the tool to operate and wait for the agency to evaluate the results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCodifying this new system without assessing its effectiveness just doesn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Coastal lawmakers signal it may be time to modify North Carolina\u2019s decades-old ban on seawalls<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bill safeguards against fraudulent \u201cghost students,\u201d which lawmakers say have cost taxpayers millions of dollars by applying for federal student aid under stolen identities, only to later disappear with the funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nUS House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The bill safeguards against fraudulent \u201cghost students,\u201d which lawmakers say have cost taxpayers millions of dollars by applying for federal student aid under stolen identities, only to later disappear with the funds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\"},\"headline\":\"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401\"},\"wordCount\":644,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401\",\"name\":\"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=401#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Carolina Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal","og_description":"The bill safeguards against fraudulent \u201cghost students,\u201d which lawmakers say have cost taxpayers millions of dollars by applying for federal student aid under stolen identities, only to later disappear with the funds.","og_url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401","og_site_name":"North Carolina Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2"},"headline":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants","datePublished":"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401"},"wordCount":644,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401","name":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants - North Carolina Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-06-11T04:05:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d4f127d36c7a535822358ef485f8457b.jpeg","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=401#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US House passes bill to combat \u2018ghost\u2019 federal student aid applicants"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/","name":"North Carolina Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}