Local News

GVL / Eric Coulter
Online class fraud is becoming an issue at Grand Valley.

Online class enrollment, fraud rises

By Samantha Butcher GVL Staff Writer
2/7/2010

As the number of students enrolling in online courses increases across the country, the potential for fraud follows suit.

Criminals target distance education programs at colleges, posing as students to collect financial aid refunds. Mary Mitchelson, acting inspector general at the U.S. Department of Education, said the department has investigated 29 cases of potential fraud since 2005. Nineteen of those investigations occurred in the past two years.

Grand Valley State University currently offers 58 courses online, but so far has not had any problems with students taking advantage of the system.

Targets of fraud schemes are more likely to be community colleges, where tuition is cheaper and financial aid eligibility requirements are less vigorous. Between April and September 2009, Axia College at the University of Phoenix, Dallas County Community College in Texas and Lansing Community College in Michigan were all victims of fraud.

In 2009, 65 individuals at Rio Salada College were indicted on 130 counts after posing as phony students and pocketing $539,000 in financial aid reimbursements.

To prevent the abuse of financial aid institutions, the Department of Education announced a new program that would analyze financial aid records for red flags, such as a high number of invalid Social Security numbers, which could trigger further investigation.

Robert Shireman, deputy under Secretary of Education, said the program does not involve collecting new information.

"The joint project with the inspector general involves no new collection or use of individual data," Shireman said. "It is focused on analyzing information about institutions to help guide further monitoring, program reviews and other appropriate follow-up." The government also expanded the Higher Education Act that requires accreditors to monitor how colleges verify the student who is enrolled is the same student who completes coursework. The stipulation caused concern from some community colleges that they would be required to purchase expensive monitoring equipment, but currently secure passwords satisfy the requirement.

In fall 2008, 4.6 million students took all of their courses online, a 17 percent increase from the year before, according to an annual study conducted by the Sloan Commission. These numbers are only expected to increase.

Research institution Ambient Insight recently found 11.9 million students took at least some of their classes online in 2009 and predicts that number will increase to 22.2 million by 2014.

Jeff Seaman, Sloan's CIO and Survey Director, said he believes online enrollment will level out in the future but so far shows no signs of stopping.

"Every year, we think it will level out, and it hasn't done so quite yet," Seaman said.

sbutcher@lanthorn.com

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