College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000: Annual Report to Congress. May 2007

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18

Consumer Education; Databases; Internet; Student Financial Aid; Law Enforcement; Federal Legislation; Student Costs; Paying for College; College Bound Students; Financial Aid Applicants; Crime Prevention; Annual Reports; Federal Programs; Public Agencies; Information Dissemination; Web Sites; Surveys; High School Students; College Students; Deception; Outreach Programs; Program Descriptions; High School Graduates; Business; Crime; Trend Analysis; Court Litigation; Postsecondary Education

Every year, millions of high school graduates seek ways to finance the rising costs of a college education, at times falling prey to scholarship and financial aid scams. To help students and their families, on November 5, 2000, Congress passed the College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 (Act) to establish stricter sentencing guidelines for criminal financial aid fraud. The Department of Education (ED), working in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is charged with implementing national awareness activities, including a scholarship fraud awareness site on the ED website. The Act also required that the Attorney General (DOJ), the Secretary of Education, and the FTC jointly submit to Congress each year a report on that year's incidence of fraud by businesses or individuals marketing financial aid assistance services to consumers. ED and the FTC have continued their consumer education efforts. Using a variety of media, the agencies disseminate information to help consumers avoid falling prey to financial aid scams. ED materials provide information about the major federal student aid programs, remind students that there is no fee to submit the "Free Application for Federal Student Aid" and that free assistance with applying for aid is available from ED, high school counselors, and college financial aid administrators. Complaints regarding scholarship fraud have remained fairly constant for over a decade with one anomalous spike in 2004 and a return to the general trend in 2005. Additionally, except for 2004, scholarship fraud complaints have diminished as a percentage of all complaints received by the FTC. A review of these complaints indicates that the nature of scholarship fraud has changed over time, shifting from scholarship search services to financial aid consulting services. The FTC continues its Project Scholarscam campaign designed to prevent and prosecute financial aid fraud. This year, the FTC obtained an injunction permanently banning a fraudulent purveyor of college financial services from marketing such services. In addition, DOJ brought actions against individuals engaged in financial aid fraud, three of which resulted in the imposition of the Act's sentencing enhancement for fraud in connection with obtaining, providing, or furnishing financial assistance for an institution of higher education. The FTC and DOJ will continue to monitor complains to determine if law enforcement action is necessary, and to coordinate parallel civil/criminal actions in appropriate cases. (Contains 15 endnotes.) [For the 2006 Annual Report, see ED504628.]

ERIC

2009

ED504626