The U.S. Department of Education revealed that over $30 million in federal student aid had been distributed to thousands of deceased individuals during the past three years.
The disclosure followed an internal cross-check of student aid records against federal grant logs and the Social Security Death Index.
The discovery of erroneous payments totaling over $30 million to deceased individuals raises significant concerns about the integrity of federal financial aid programs, which are funded by U.S. taxpayers.
President Donald Trump's administration has been emphasizing the amount of money the government is wasting and has been trying to eliminate unnecessary expenses.
The Department of Education's review found that, over the previous three years, more than $30 million in federal student aid was paid out to thousands of recipients who were already deceased. These payments included both loan disbursements and grant funds.
Officials identified the problem by cross-referencing student aid records with the Social Security Death Index. They stated that the lack of real-time data sharing contributed to erroneous payments, as outdated records failed to flag recipients who had died, allowing automatic disbursements to proceed.
To address the issue, the Education Department reported it is strengthening its real-time data-sharing agreement with the Social Security Administration (SSA) and enhancing administrative processes to detect eligibility changes more quickly.
These steps aim to close loopholes that permitted deceased individuals to remain listed as eligible for aid.
The department also announced the resumption of automated post-screening for student aid records, a process that was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that these checks are crucial for ensuring that all recipients meet the eligibility criteria before additional aid is released.
The $30 million misallocated to deceased recipients was part of a larger total: nearly $90 million was distributed to ineligible recipients during the same period, according to the Department of Education.
The Department of Education has committed to further technological upgrades and ongoing collaboration with the SSA to prevent improper payments to deceased or otherwise ineligible individuals. Updates to oversight and data-sharing mechanisms are expected to be implemented over the next fiscal year.
Because the Trump administration has prioritized cutting out waste and fraud, there will likely be increased focus on this type of federal government mismanagement of funds moving forward.
https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-dead-people-got-student-aid-trump-admin-finds-2080007
