As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in society, new problems are consistently arising. Recently, a wave of fraudulent enrollments has come to light.
Hundreds of students were enrolled fraudulently using AI programs that submit enrollment applications to California community colleges in seconds. A Fortune article called them “ghost students,” reporting that 150,000 were found enrolled and $90 million in financial aid had been given out to them.
The fraudulent applications began before the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated once remote work made oversight harder. Scammers often enroll hundreds of fake students at a time and wait for the first financial aid check to arrive, then cash out before the students are dropped from courses. Some even complete assignments to keep their fake students from being dropped too early. Enrollment numbers grew from the hundreds to thousands statewide, raising questions about unexplained spikes within districts.
California’s centralized enrollment system has made the state especially vulnerable. Because colleges receive state funding partly based on enrollment, Thompson said, it gives districts little incentive to investigate suspicious applications. Professors are lecturing to empty classrooms while real students face longer waitlists.
Sarah Thompson, vice president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, was approached by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio with a request to write an audit on the case. After repeatedly raising concerns with the statewide chancellor and being dismissed, Thompson, Rubio and many others felt action was necessary.
After the audit was written, CalMatters — a government journal publication based in Sacramento — published an article detailing the extent of the fraud. That drew attention from nine Republican members of Congress who immediately took action.
Announcements were then made to districts that AI models will be developed to help combat fraudulent enrollments.
Before that investment, faculty members had to withdraw students on their own. “We’ve been one of the more aggressive districts in terms of disenrolling students,” Thompson said. Faculty members were taking time out of their jobs to handle the issue.
Rajinder Samra, director of research at Las Positas College, said, “In past semesters, faculty members at LPC had to take time to disenroll fraudulent students. In previous semesters, deans and faculty members contacted me with concerns and asked me to review particular sections for fraud.”
This set the stage for Thompson’s audit to advance quickly to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee’s consent calendar. The audit targets districts statewide that have shown unexplained enrollment growth year after year. Some districts are doing it on purpose, while others lack the resources to combat the fraud.
“If you are aggressively pursuing it, you’re literally punished by the state,” Thompson said.
While some districts are choosing to ignore these red flags to benefit from them, many districts lack the staff and resources to address the issue.
The issue has raised questions about California’s community college funding model and whether it encourages districts to act unethically to secure state money.
One proposal is to require a small application fee to create a paper trail. However, critics warn that it could discourage students from vulnerable communities who fear that their information will be traced back to them.
Another option is to allow students to apply and pay through CCCApply while also offering the option to apply directly to Las Positas, bypassing the state and other third-party systems. Supporters say this approach would better protect student information and preserve anonymity.
For now, faculty members are not concerned about ghost students in the fall semester and seem to have the problem under control. “I do not have any evidence suggesting that fraudulent enrollments are prevalent this semester,” Samra said.
Even if districts appear to have a better handle on the issue this fall, the state audit is expected to dig deeper into whether California’s funding system created conditions for ghost students to thrive in the first place.
Sarah Thompson, vice president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, was reading the audit to the court audience on June 18.
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TOP PHOTO: Sarah Thompson, vice president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, was reading the audit to the court audience on June 18.
Milo Jones is a staff writer for The Express.
