CA Community Colleges Have Handed Out $5 Million in Aid to Fake Students Since 2021

Bots enroll, apply for a Pell grant, collect it and disappear. Schemes have become so prevalent that colleges must provide monthly fraud reports.

Students walk to Summer semester classes at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., on June 29, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California’s community colleges have handed out more than $5 million in financial aid to fraudulent students since 2021.

The bogus students are often bots who enroll, apply for a federal Pell grant—which can provide up to $7,600—collect it and then disappear.