Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026

Jon Husted

Republican · OH · Senator

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Bill Cassidy (R-LA)Original· 2026-05-14
• Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)Original· 2026-05-14

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

2026-05-14

Source: Congress.gov

Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026 This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to prioritize the review of institutions of higher education (IHEs) that disburse federal student aid without verifying the identity of a student whose Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud. Specifically, the bill requires ED to identify each IHE that disburses, on or after October 1, 2026, federal financial aid for an award year to any student whose FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, as determined by ED's identity fraud detection system. However, the bill excludes from this identification any IHE that demonstrates to ED, for each student and before disbursing federal financial aid, that the IHE (1) verifies the student's identity in person or by live video, (2) notifies ED of the identify verification, and (3) maintains a record of such identity verification. ED may use identification information to inform program reviews, audits, investigations, and other oversight activities related to federal student aid. (On April 26, 2026, ED began implementing a real-time identity fraud detection process within the FAFSA form that places applicants into one of four risk categories. High-risk applicants must confirm their identity by presenting documentation during the online application process, including via a live camera process. Applicants who are rejected via this automated process must then have their identity verified in person by IHEs.)

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4531 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4531 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 14, 2026 Mr. Husted (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, and Mr. Tuberville) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions _______________________________________________________________________ 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 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following: ``(F) institutions identified under paragraph (4); and''. (b) Identification of Institutions.--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 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 an institution has failed to meet the requirements of this title.''. <all>

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