$1 billion in the shadows: How “ghost students” are haunting California’s colleges
California’s community colleges are facing a peculiar crisis that involves fraud, and identity theft. Beneath the surface of the state’s vast higher education system, thousands of so-called “ghost students” have allegedly enrolled in classes, occupied limited seats, and in many cases, collected financial aid meant for genuine learners. According to OpenTheBooks, a watchdog organisation that has tracked the issue for several years, the problem extends beyond fake enrolments. These fraudulent accounts often use the names, images and birth dates of real individuals, some even of those who have died. Kim Rich, a criminal justice professor at Pierce College in the Los Angeles Community College District, has spent years identifying these impostors. In one instance, she traced a student’s profile photo back to a 24-year-old man who died in the 9/11 attacks.
The scope of the fraud
While state officials have been reluctant to call it a large-scale crisis, the numbers tell a different story. United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon estimated that student aid fraud costs the nation roughly $1 billion annually, with California appearing to account for a significant portion. Rich’s own classroom experiences reinforce that claim. In the spring 2025 semester, she found that 24 of the 40 students in her class were fake. Some accounts used duplicated names or suspiciously sequential student identification numbers; others could be traced to overseas networks, OpenTheBooks reports.The California Community College Chancellor’s Office reported that between March 2024 and March 2025, it tracked $10 million in federal and $3 million in state financial aid fraud, according to OpenTheBooks. Yet, officials emphasised that those figures represent only a small fraction of the total aid distributed — around $3.5 billion. The office characterised the losses as “a drop in the bucket”, an assessment that contrasts sharply with Rich’s observations and McMahon’s national estimate.
The cost of false enrolment
Beyond financial losses, these ghost students have tangible effects on real learners. Every fraudulent enrolment represents a seat taken from a legitimate student. When instructors identify and remove the fake accounts, those seats may reopen, but often too late for displaced students to rejoin. “It represents a major misuse of public funds and a betrayal of the trust Californians place in their education institutions,” wrote California’s Republican congressional delegation in an April 2025 letter to McMahon and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter urged a federal investigation and stronger safeguards to prevent further abuse.
Layers of verification and new defences
Enrolling in California’s community colleges has long been straightforward. Applicants can create an account on CCCApply.org, submit personal information, and gain admission in a matter of hours. For fraudsters, this ease of access created opportunity. In response, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office has begun implementing new safeguards. Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance and Strategic Initiatives Chris Ferguson described a “multi-option verification framework” designed to curb fraudulent applications. The office plans to roll out mandatory identity verification, including integration with the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ mobile identification system. Colleges now have access to ID.me, a digital verification platform, though its use has not been mandatory. The new plan aims to change that, requiring identity validation for most applicants while providing alternative processes for those under 18. Artificial intelligence will also play a role. The Chancellor’s Office is introducing a fraud detection system to identify suspicious patterns across campuses. The California Community Colleges Tech Center has similarly launched an AI-driven model to flag anomalies in real time. According to Ferguson, these combined efforts blocked 31% of all fraudulent applications in 2024 before they reached enrolment. He called the remaining undetected cases “nanoscopic”, estimating the total losses at just 0.21% of aid distributed that year, OpenTheBooks reports.
Between perception and reality
While officials frame these figures as evidence of success, discrepancies between administrative data and on-the-ground experiences persist. Faculty members like Rich argue that the fraud is far more extensive than current numbers suggest. Her rough calculations imply that in just one Los Angeles district, fraudulent aid could exceed $20 million per semester if even a small fraction of online classes include fake students. The U.S. Department of Education, meanwhile, has moved to tighten national standards. In June 2025, it announced a new rule requiring applicants for federal student aid to present a valid government-issued identification either in person or via live video verification. However, state officials in California say they are still awaiting federal guidance on how to implement those measures.
A fragile trust
For California, this crisis is about more than financial loss. It has become a question of trust in data systems, institutions, and the principles of access that define community colleges. The state has long prided itself on an open education model, one that offers opportunity to all. Yet, the “ghost student” phenomenon exposes the vulnerabilities that come with openness. As technology reshapes how students enrol and learn, colleges are being forced to weigh accessibility against accountability.If fake students can easily occupy half a class, how many real students are being left out? In the end, California’s challenge is not merely to detect fraud, but to restore confidence in a system designed to expand opportunity, not exploit it.
