70 students at Las Positas College have been found to have been committing financial aid fraud. The students committed fraud by signing up for classes but not attending the classes in order to secure financial aid, said Andi Schreibman, Financial Aid Officer in an email to campus employees on March 18.
Professors were urged to check their class rosters for anomalies that may indicate a student committing fraud. Registering for classes but never attending or submitting assignments may be a sign of financial aid fraud.
This fraud was discovered based on suspicions by Nan Ho, Dean of Math, Science, Engineering and Public Safety. Ho noticed a pattern in students adding into fast-track classes.
Currently, the financial aid department is looking for any leads to the fraudulent activity. In the email, Scriebman asked faculty to stay vigilant. “It has been the faculty, in my experience, who have always been the key to making the initial discovery of potential fraudulent students, so faculty are clearly essential in helping us to identify and nail these folks who play havoc with enrollment management efforts and with taxpayer funding,” she said.
Han Nelson is the A&E Editor of The Express. Follow her @SCP_TLDR.
