The Trump Education Department has been focusing on identifying student loan fraud and they have a lot to show for their efforts. They just announced that they have uncovered more than a billion dollars in fraud.
Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, may be the last cabinet official of her kind if Trump has his way. Like many Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, Trump wants to do away with the department completely.
McMahon and Trump have successfully done away with a number of horrible Bide-era policies on student loans and financial aid, which has helped them to identify all of this fraud.
The Education Department released this statement:
U.S. Department of Education Prevents More Than $1 Billion in Federal Student Aid Fraud This Year, Additional Crackdowns Expected in 2026
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) today announced that it has prevented $1 billion in Federal student aid fraud since January 2025. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration implemented enhanced fraud controls governing how institutions of higher education distribute financial assistance, including mandatory identity verification for certain first-time student applicants. This effort has halted more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid theft by fraudsters, including coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students.
The Biden Administration’s decision to require identity verification from less than one percent of students created a prime opportunity for fraudsters to exploit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process and steal taxpayer funds. Colleges and universities across the country reported being under siege by highly sophisticated fraud rings and requested the Trump Administration for help.