This manuscript reviews issues that differentiate traditional academic cheating from course misconduct that is motivated by a desire to defraud financial aid services in the U.S. Past research on college student cheating has assumed that cheaters are driven by an incentive to obtain undeserved grades in college in order to ultimately obtain a…

Tucked away in a 1,200-page bill now in Congress is a small paragraph that could lead distance-education institutions to require spy cameras in their students' homes. It sounds Orwellian, but the paragraph--part of legislation renewing the Higher Education Act--is all but assured of becoming law. No one in Congress objects to it. The paragraph is…

Guidelines to prevent fraud and abuse in the government's student aid programs are presented for schools, lenders, and guarantee agencies. Student aid fraud is defined as intentional wrongful obtaining of student financial assistance (SFA) benefits through deceptive means. It is noted that falsification of eligibility is the most common form of…

A recent Department of Education study, developed with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service, found that of 2.3 million Pell Grants in 1995-96, 102,000 went to students who failed to report or underreported family income. More than 300 recipients had each underreported income by over $100,000. The report comes when the Clinton…

Describes the varied kinds of student aid fraud found to be occurring within and outside colleges and universities, and examines implications for public policy on student aid programs. Discusses specific fraud cases and their outcomes, and makes suggestions for institutional action if student fraud is suspected. (MSE)