В колледжах Миннесоты выявили тысячи поддельных заявок от «призрачных студентов»

Ghost students target LSC, Minnesota colleges As students return to campus this fall, Minnesota colleges are continuing to battle a growing problem known as “ghost students,” fraudulent applicants who use stolen or fake identities to enroll in courses and potentially obtain financial aid. Minnesota State officials say the issue has become a significant concern across the system’s 33 colleges and universities, including Lake Superior College, requiring extensive staff time and new technology to detect and prevent fraudulent enrollments. “Generally, we will say that they are fraudulent student applications or fraudulent enrollments, and they’re created using stolen or fictitious identities,” said Craig Munson, acting associate vice chancellor of information technology and deputy chief information officer for Minnesota State. Munson said the system first began noticing ghost student activity roughly four to five years ago when unusual applications started appearing. In response, Minnesota State assembled a cross-functional team that included cybersecurity experts, admissions staff, legal counsel and student affairs officials to identify trends and develop safeguards. According to Munson, the tactics used by fraudsters are constantly evolving, requiring colleges to continually adapt their defenses. Minnesota State has since created systemwide guidance to help schools identify suspicious applications and establish consistent procedures for handling potential fraud cases. Officials say the scams most frequently target online classes, where students may never need to physically appear on campus. The impact extends beyond financial aid dollars. Munson said identity theft victims often face the difficult process of correcting records, reversing loans and clearing their names. Colleges also must spend significant time investigating fraudulent enrollments and ensuring real students are not denied opportunities. “If there’s a waitlist for that class, for instance, we want to make sure that real people are able to attend our classes and not being held up by someone that’s posing as a person that’s attending,” Munson said. Minnesota State is now working to automate more of its verification process after receiving legislative funding to help strengthen enrollment screening efforts. System data show there were 2,696 fraudulent or potentially fraudulent financial aid applications during the 2025-2026 academic year. Of those, 596 were associated with universities and 2,100 with colleges. Officials emphasize those figures represent suspected fraudulent applications rather than confirmed successful attempts. Minnesota State says its long-term goal remains reducing the number of fraudulent enrollments to zero while ensuring legitimate students can access classes, financial aid and educational opportunities without disruption.