A number of recent fraud cases have underscored the difficulty in making sure that each student who enrolls in a class actually exists. This is a separate question from the traditional complaint that students are finding ways to cheat by having someone else do the work. With online instruction becoming the norm at many institutions, the sheer volume of students has made it easier for perpetrators to defraud the federal government of student aid money.
An Arizona woman pleaded guilty recently to running an elaborate scam that highlights what federal authorities describe as the vulnerability of online education to financial aid fraud. The scheme embroiled Rio Salado College, in Arizona, home to one of America's largest online programs, in a half-million-dollar scam. According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription), other schools around the country, including community colleges, have experienced similar types of problems. "The case highlights how the same technology that is expanding access to millions of online students may also expose the country's $117 billion financial aid system to supersize fraud," the article states.
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