National policy · Policy and regulation · United States
Walberg welcomes DOJ ghost-student indictments, urges Congress to finish aid fraud bill
The House education committee chair praised Justice Department indictments from Operation Ghostbusters and called for final passage of a bill requiring identity fraud screening of federal student aid applications.
Why it matters: Applications for US federal student aid would undergo identity fraud screening, with extra checks on suspicious ones, if the House-passed No Aid for Ghost Students Act becomes law.
Tim Walberg, Republican chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued a statement responding to Department of Justice indictments arising from Operation Ghostbusters, an investigation into criminals using stolen identities to obtain federal student aid fraudulently.
Walberg said the indictments showed how serious ghost student fraud had become and argued that Congress must act to stop it, praising the Trump administration and the Justice Department.
According to the committee, the House passed H.R. 7892, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act, in June; it was introduced by subcommittee chair Burgess Owens and includes provisions from Glenn Thompson's Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act.
The committee said the bill would require identity fraud screening of federal student aid applications and further verification of suspicious applications before aid is paid out.
Editor’s view
Richard Davies, Policy and Finance Editor
If the No Aid for Ghost Students Act is enacted, federal student aid applications would undergo identity fraud screening and suspicious ones would need further verification before disbursement; the bill has passed the House, and Walberg has called on Congress to complete it.
What to watch
- Whether the House-passed No Aid for Ghost Students Act completes its passage through Congress, as Walberg urged.
