HouseH.R. 7891119th Congress
Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7891 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 582
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7891
[Report No. 119-668]
To amend section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require
the Secretary of Education to prioritize program reviews of
institutions of higher education that disburse Federal financial aid
under title IV of such Act without verifying the identity of a student
whose FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 12, 2026
Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
May 26, 2026
Additional sponsor: Ms. Foxx
May 26, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March
12, 2026]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require
the Secretary of Education to prioritize program reviews of
institutions of higher education that disburse Federal financial aid
under title IV of such Act without verifying the identity of a student
whose FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Student Aid Fraud Oversight and
Accountability Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM REVIEW PRIORITY CATEGORY.
(a) Program Review Priority Category.--Section 498A(a)(2) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c-1(a)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G),
and striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of such
subparagraph; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
``(F) institutions identified under paragraph (4);
and''.
(b) Identification of Institutions of Higher Education.--Section
498A(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c-1(a)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) shall identify each institution that has disbursed,
on or after October 1, 2026, Federal financial aid under this
title for an award year to any student whose application under
section 483 for such award year presented a reasonable
suspicion of identity fraud, as determined by the identity
fraud detection system used by the Secretary, except that the
Secretary shall exclude from such identification any
institution that demonstrates to the Secretary that, with
respect to each such student, before the disbursement of
Federal financial aid to the student, the institution, in
accordance with procedures established by the Secretary,
determined that a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud was
not present by confirming the identity of such student using
in-person verification or live, synchronous audiovisual
verification and notified the Secretary that the identity of
the student has been verified, and maintains a record of such
identity verification.''.
(c) Special Considerations.--Section 498A of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c-1) is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(f) Special Considerations.--Identification of an institution
under subsection (a)(4)--
``(1) may be used to inform program reviews, audits,
investigations, and other oversight activities authorized under
this title; and
``(2) shall not, by itself, constitute a determination that
such institution has failed to meet the requirements of this
title.''.
Union Calendar No. 582
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7891
[Report No. 119-668]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require
the Secretary of Education to prioritize program reviews of
institutions of higher education that disburse Federal financial aid
under title IV of such Act without verifying the identity of a student
whose FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 26, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed