Video: ‘Ghost students’ cost Utah’s higher education system over $840K last year
Jun 17, 2026, 12:14 PM | Updated: 2:50 pm
A legislative audit released Tuesday found Utah’s higher education landscape has experienced a surge in enrollment fraud.
Typically, the audit said, this occurs when people — commonly known as “ghost students” — use false or stolen identities to enroll in higher education institutions to obtain financial aid or other resources.
When fraudulent attempts succeed, the colleges are required to pay the federal government back for the loss.
It’s a waste of both money and time that Utah is no stranger to, as Utah System of Higher Education institutions reported disbursing $834,000 to suspected fraudulent applicants and spending over 15,000 hours working to mitigate enrollment fraud from 2025 to 2026, according to the audit.
Read: https://www.ksl.com/article/51512236/audit-ghost-students-cost-utahs-higher-education-system-over-840k-last-year
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