Sen. Jon Husted introduces bill to crack down on student aid fraud

WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) today joined Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) Chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in introducing the Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act. This bill would require strong safeguards to prevent student aid fraud.

Specifically, it would target “ghost students,” a stolen or fabricated identity that impersonates a student to enroll in classes to fraudulently obtain federal and state financial aid. These scammers, often operating in coordinated, international networks, collect grants and financial aid, then disappear without ever attending classes, leaving taxpayers holding the bill.

“Criminals are exploiting financial aid programs by impersonating students, which is wasting taxpayer dollars that could be going to the students who need it the most. This bill would strengthen oversight capabilities at the Department of Education to ensure federal aid goes to real students while protecting hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said Husted. 

“Every dollar spent on fraudulent student aid is a dollar stolen from a student in need. Let’s crack down on fraud in federal financial aid programs, ensuring the aid goes to the students in need,” said Dr. Cassidy.

“Our students spend years paying back debts from higher education institutions that are oftentimes recklessly spending their money without any sort of accountability. Bad actors steal student aid funds and never pay them back—meanwhile actual students pay the price when they aren’t allowed to take the courses needed to graduate. This bill creates much needed oversight that puts the student and taxpayer first and holds our universities accountable,” said Tuberville.

The Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act would create an oversight mechanism requiring the Department of Education to identify institutions that disburse federal aid to applicants flagged for potential fraud. Schools that are flagged would then be placed in a priority category for program review, audits and other oversight. Schools can be exempted if they verify student identities through an in-person or live video call, before aid is dispersed.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) introduced the companion bill to the Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act in the House of Representatives. The bill passed the House Committee on Education and Workforce unanimously on March 17, 2026.

This bill builds on Husted’s work to fight fraud in our education systems. Husted and Tuberville launched a task force to tackle fraud in education and hold bad actors accountable. 

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