Ghost students are stealing millions in financial aid

This report examines the growing problem of AI-generated “ghost students” in higher education who use stolen and synthetic identities to enroll, receive financial aid, and disappear, causing financial losses, administrative burden, and reputational harm; it explains why one-time verification fails and recommends applying Zero Trust principles—continuous verification, least privilege, suspicious-activity monitoring, and pre-disbursement checks—to reduce enrollment fraud.