Fox Business https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/lue-state-fraud-triggers-call-investigation-betrayal-taxpayers
EXCLUSIVE: California Republican lawmakers in Congress are calling on the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to investigate fake community college applications meant to take federal and state taxpayer dollars through financial aid.
In 2024, California community colleges claimed that 34% of their applicants were really an effort to defraud, which was an increase from 20% in 2020, data from the system’s chancellor’s office shows, according to CalMatters. The office estimates that $10 million in federal taxpayer dollars and $3 million in aid from the Golden State have been lost as a result of financial aid fraud, such as Pell Grants, according to the outlet.
“This is not a marginal issue. It represents a major misuse of public funds and a betrayal of the trust Californians place in their education institutions,” said the letter, led by Rep. Young Kim and signed by fellow California Republican Reps. Darrell Issa, Vince Fong, Ken Calvert, Doug LaMalfa, Jay Obernolte, Tom McClintock, Kevin Kiley and David Valadao.
The letter added that the fraud hurts actual students in the system, especially those who are in “impacted” programs like nursing and accounting, according to the letter.
“While we acknowledge that there may be cuts in the Governor’s budget thereby creating obstacles for fraud prevention, this setback does not eliminate the responsibility that state and college leadership hold. Californians deserve a full account of how this was allowed to escalate and what concrete steps are being taken now to contain and resolve it,” it continues.
In addition to the investigation, lawmakers are asking the administration to “take immediate action to prevent further waste, fraud, and abuse of precious taxpayer dollars as Congress and the President seek a consensus on how to curb wasteful federal spending.”
“This crisis strikes at the heart of fairness and access to education in California at a time that our state is facing a financial crisis,” the letter added.
There are 116 community colleges in California, with roughly 2.1 million students, according to the system’s website.
The Golden State continues to face major scrutiny over taxpayer issues in recent weeks, including with the state’s Medicaid program, which is facing financial woes that many critics attribute to a state law allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in the program – and state Republican lawmakers called for a formal audit of the program earlier this week.
