House committee backs bill to tighten student aid fraud controls

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Student aid fraud bill

Highlights

H.R. 7892, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026, aims to combat federal student aid fraud by targeting fraudulent FAFSA applications using stolen or synthetic identities.
The Department of Education under Secretary Linda McMahon blocked over $1 billion in attempted fraud in 2025 by expanding identity screening and verification safeguards.
Republican-led legislation seeks to codify anti-fraud measures to prevent future administrative reversals and protect federal student aid resources for legitimate students.

Legislation targets FAFSA identity fraud

As reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Chairman Tim Walberg says on the House floor that H.R. 7892, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026, is designed to combat fraud in the federal student aid system.

Walberg says the bill, authored by Rep. Burgess Owens, also incorporates provisions from Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson’s H.R. 7891, which he says strengthens oversight and accountability around student aid fraud. He describes ghost students as fraudsters using stolen or synthetic identities to submit FAFSA applications and divert aid dollars, often through foreign or domestic crime rings filing applications in large volumes.

He argues that fraud risks grew after guardrails were removed during the COVID-19 pandemic, making federal student aid programs more vulnerable to abuse. Walberg says those policy changes created more opportunities for criminals to exploit assistance programs at taxpayers’ expense rather than helping legitimate students access education funding.

Department efforts and broader policy impact

Walberg says the Department of Education, under Secretary Linda McMahon, is restoring safeguards, expanding identity screening and tightening verification requirements to curb fraudulent claims. He says those actions help the department block more than $1 billion in attempted fraud in 2025, but warns the measures could be reversed by future administrations if they are not written into law.

The legislation is being advanced by Committee Republicans as part of a broader push to protect federal assistance programs from misuse and preserve access to higher education for legitimate borrowers and students. Walberg says unchecked fraud diverts resources away from real students, making stronger statutory protections a policy priority for the education sector.

Our earlier article on Chairman Tim Walberg’s opposition to H.R. 5408 (the Faster Labor Contracts Act) explained his argument that the bill would expand federal intervention in first-contract disputes by allowing government-appointed arbitrators to impose binding contract terms. He warned this could sideline workers’ right to vote on agreements, broaden the authority of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and place disproportionate cost pressures on small businesses.

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