Student Aid Fraud Bills Marked Up in the House

The House Committee on Education and Workforce marked up several bills this week related to student aid oversight and fraud prevention. These bills will likely head to the House floor for a vote, though it remains unclear which, if any, will have enough support to pass.

Of the seven bills discussed, four were relevant to higher education institutions. Brief descriptions and their vote totals are below:

• R. 7894, Truman Scholarship Clean House Act.
  • Summary: Created in response to Republican allegations that the Truman Scholarship is biased in favor of students with left-leaning priorities, this bill would allow the President to remove and replace board members of the Truman Scholarship Foundation, and establish certain requirements for the selection of future board members and scholarship recipients.
  • Vote: Passed, 19 to 13.
• R. 7891, Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026.
  • Summary: This bill would require the Department of Education to prioritize program reviews of institutions that do not follow a specific verification process when a new fraud detection system at the Department flags a student for review. This verification process would be established through the No Aid for Ghost Students Act, and institutions would need to confirm any flagged student’s identity through “in-person... or live, synchronous audiovisual verification.”
  • Vote: Passed, 33 to 0.
• R. 7892, No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026.
  • Summary: This bill would require the Department of Education to use a fraud detection system to identify potentially fraudulent FAFSAs and notify the institutions that these flagged applications were submitted by students. This process would be effective as of October 1, 2026, with initial notices to institutions going out beginning November 1, 2026.
  • Vote: Passed, 30 to 3.
• R. 7893, FAFSA Verification Efficiency Act.
  • Summary: This bill would authorize the Department of Education to verify the Social Security number and citizenship status of students who submit a FAFSA application, as well as their parents or guardians.
  • Vote: Passed, 19 to 13.

For more information, please contact:
Justin Monk