California’s community colleges are being flooded with a large number of fraudulent enrollment applications, while genuine students are struggling to access the classes they need. Higher education experts have pointed out that the scale of the “fake students, robots” fraud scheme in California is unprecedented.
In a 36-year career in higher education, Marvin Martinez, Chancellor of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) in Santa Ana, Orange County, stated, “I have never encountered such a massive fraudulent registration issue. Currently, approximately 80% of campuses, at least 90 universities, are facing this situation.”
On this topic, Siyamak Khorrami, host of Epoch TV’s “California Insider,” recently interviewed Martinez and Jeannie Kim, President of Santiago Canyon College. The two education experts revealed more insights.
California has a total of 116 community colleges. Community colleges have lower tuition fees, and the scholarships they offer are often used for living expenses, making them a hot spot for fraud. Data shows that in 2024 alone, over 1.2 million “fake students” applied to community colleges, accounting for almost 30% of total new student applications.
Martinez noted that fraudulent registration is not a new issue but has escalated significantly since the start of the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, about 80% of courses were conducted face-to-face, with only a small portion being online; some universities had online course ratios below 10%. After the pandemic, universities began promoting online courses, shifting about 80% of courses online, with face-to-face courses reduced to 20% or lower.
“In just three to four years, the education sector has completely changed its operations. This change allows students to attend classes from anywhere without having to be physically present in a classroom,” he pointed out. “This undoubtedly provides an opportunity for fraudsters. They don’t need to show up; they only need to register a name.”
Jeannie, leading Santiago Canyon College, also encountered a significant number of “fake students.” During the fall 2024 registration season, the FTES (a metric used to calculate student numbers) and registration figures surged by 10% to 13%.
“We were very excited and even celebrated. However, in the first week of classes, faculty members found that these students were not genuine. Their behavior did not match that of normal students, such as failing to submit assignments or displaying abnormal behavior in online courses,” Jeannie noted. As teachers with years of experience began screening students, they found many were “fake students”—some never attended classes, some did not complete assignments even when present, and some were completely unresponsive during class.
She revealed that the school also discovered some “fake students” using AI to generate assignments and even submitting the same assignment to multiple instructors across different courses.
Jeannie further explained that after faculty started removing “fake students,” the initial growth rate of 10%-13% turned into a negative 10%; within two weeks, registration numbers dropped by 20%-23%, equivalent to 10,000-12,000 registration spots. A single “fake student” could register for multiple courses simultaneously.
This means that a large number of “fake students” are taking up spots meant for genuine students, while those in need of education struggle to find courses that meet their degree requirements. This impacts their progress in completing degrees or obtaining certificates, possibly delaying their graduation time.
Additionally, Jeannie mentioned that the student support team was also exhausted. In the first two weeks of the semester, as genuine students actively searched for available courses to enroll in, the counseling team couldn’t help students find courses to register for.
“Because all spots were taken by ‘robot fake students,’ they not only dominate the classrooms but also don’t leave any openings on course waitlists,” Jeannie shared. The department head and faculty at their college conducted an experiment by increasing the daily course limit to 30 students, and each time, the spots were filled within an hour, which was historically unrealistic.
By observing and investigating, the school eventually concluded that only 12-15 genuine students were in classes, with the rest of the spots being seized by “fake students.”
Martinez added, “This is a devastating blow for the school. After all, school funding relies on enrollment numbers, losing 20%-23% of registrations means significant losses. And we cannot advocate for funding for ‘fake students.'”
So, what exactly are the motives of these “fake students”? Martinez told the host that the fraudsters’ intentions are not yet clear. However, based on evidence and speculation available to the school, fraudsters may have various motivations.
“Firstly, it’s for federal financial aid, especially Pell Grants (which do not require repayment), there’s no doubt about that,” Martinez said. “Another motive is to obtain students’ personal information (such as social security numbers) for other criminal activities.”
He mentioned that the federal government has intervened in the investigation, making it a significant national issue. “We currently cannot determine who is behind this,” he said. According to their understanding, these individuals may not even reside within the US; they could be operating remotely from around the world.
As early as September 2021, the Epoch Times reported that the California community college system was investigating a seemingly large-scale fraud case involving over 65,000 potentially fraudulent financial aid applications submitted by “robot students.”
The two education experts stated that fraudsters used false identities, names, and information to register with the schools. Jeannie pointed out that in the process of verifying student information, the school uncovered dozens of identity theft cases where fraudsters used stolen identities to register.
Martinez added, “Fraudsters have indeed achieved this, and they did it very convincingly; our (original) technological systems could not detect it.”
Fortunately, 83 colleges in California have implemented more advanced technology to effectively address this large-scale fraud issue, aiding more genuine students in returning to campus.
At the same time, federal agencies in the United States have recently implemented temporary measures requiring first-time federal financial aid applicants to verify their identities using government-issued IDs. Stricter screening measures are expected in the future.◇