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Three Georgia women and an Alabama man pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the US Department of Education’s Federal financial aid programs worth millions of dollars. According to the Justice Department, they admitted enrolling people who were not eligible to attend college and completing financial aid applications using fake students’ names; they also did fake students’ homework and exams and manipulated grade requirements to continue qualifying for Federal financial aid.

The Department of Justice reports that two education officials have been sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to fraudulently enrolling people in virtual schools and then claiming money from public funds on their behalf. The districts received payments from the Alabama Education Trust Fund as if the students were attending public schools while the defendants misappropriated state money through direct cash payments and payments to third-party contractors owned by various co-conspirators.

The US Attorney’s Office arrested a nurse practitioner on federal charges of wire fraud, financial aid fraud and aggravated identity theft. She used doctors’ pedigree information and forged signatures to certify disability diagnoses that got more than $10.5 million in loans discharged for at least 125 people. She defrauded the federal Department of Education's Total and Permanent Disability discharge program, which relieves the student loans of those who suffer from permanent physical or mental disabilities.

According to the “Cyber Threats Targeting the Global Education Sector” report, there has been a 20 per cent increase in cyber threats to the global education sector in the first three months of 2022. 58% of threats were targeted at Indian- based educational institutions and online platforms. The USA was the second most affected country globally with 19 recorded incidents. The databases leaked from educational institutions contain personally identifiable information of students and their families, website user records and credentials and examination results.

An anthropology professor at Yale College reported to the University’s Executive Committee that 81 out of 136 total students for inappropriate use of online and course materials during online open-note examinations. In 2020, the Executive Committee reprimanded 49 out of 78 students, 10 were placed on probation, five were suspended and 14 were found not responsible or had their charges withdrawn.

A former Yale School of Medicine finance director and administrator pleaded guilty to wire fraud and false tax returns over a nine year period. She ran an illegal business that involved the bulk purchase and resale of computers and electronic devices for a total of $40 million in losses for the university. Since the incident, the university has worked to identify and correct gaps in its internal financial controls.

Chapman University professor is suing a group of students who posted two of his exams on an education-based document-sharing website to solicit in advance answers to several essay questions. According to the civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the professor is seeking damages for copyright infringement and ethical violation of Chapman’s honour code. The tests contained a warning that they were copyright protected.

San Diego Ashford University, and its parent company, Zovio, have been fined US$22.37 million for fraudulent admissions tactics that left some students in serious debt and without degrees. According to San Diego Superior Court judge, the college has made bogus claims about career outcomes, costs and financial aid to lure vulnerable students to enrol in the online university programmes.

The FBI has alleged that meal providers sponsored by Minneapolis-based Feeding Our Future were paid tens of millions of taxpayer dollars for food they never provided to needy children, using most of that money to purchase real estate, luxury vehicles and other goods. Among those convicted were a highly regarded school headmaster who also ran several daycare centres in Georgia, several ministers who ran their own nonprofit organizations distributing meals, and a former congressional candidate.