Fraud has always been a risk for colleges and universities. These are large, complex institutions with vast amounts of personal data and valuable benefits attached to enrollment. Admissions require proof of financial capacity and academic credentials, tuition varies, and grants and aid are on offer. All of this creates opportunity and vulnerability.&nbsp;

During COVID-19, those vulnerabilities widened. Rapid moves from in-person to online learning and more holistic admissions practices created new gaps for bad actors to exploit. The typically slow-moving higher education sector became a target.&nbsp;

A Case Study: California Community Colleges&nbsp;

The California Community College system recently became a headline example of just how sophisticated enrollment fraud has become. Fraudsters identified weaknesses in a large, decentralized system and used stolen identities and automation to apply for classes and collect federal aid.&nbsp;

The scale was staggering, genuine students could not get seats, instructors reported empty classes, and online “students” displayed suspicious patterns. The colleges responded quickly, deploying AI tools to analyze data, detect patterns, and flag fake enrollments. These models have worked well to reduce immediate abuse.&nbsp;

But the underlying problem remains. Applying to a California Community College is intentionally easy, especially for domestic students. Social Security numbers are optional. Supporting documents are minimal. And with a single portal covering 116 colleges, fraudsters can submit multiple applications with ease.&nbsp;

Where AI Stops and Where Verification Begins&nbsp;

AI is excellent for detecting suspicious patterns, but it cannot on its own prove that a transcript, bank statement, or utility bill is genuine. That is why California’s system has also turned to free identity services like ID.me. These tools confirm a person’s government ID but do not establish whether the supporting documents attached to that identity are authentic.&nbsp;

This is the gap a “hard verification layer” must fill. A robust system should work pre and post admission alongside AI, first to deter fraud and then to resolve flagged cases with auditable evidence.&nbsp;

How Veri Once Can Help&nbsp;

At Veri Once, we already provide this hard verification layer every day for international student admissions. We obtain written confirmation directly from the source, the bank, the employer, or the school before a document is accepted. U.S. institutions in 13 states upload international student financial documents to our platform for verification, often because they suspect fraud. Our data show that 36 percent of the financial documents we review are fake, a sobering figure even accounting for bias in what is submitted.&nbsp;

Until now, our focus has been on international students, where SEVIS rules explicitly require document verification. But the California case shows that domestic admissions need the same rigor. Fraud follows weaknesses, wherever they are.&nbsp;

The Way Forward&nbsp;

In an era when real and fake are increasingly difficult to distinguish, colleges need more than pattern recognition and basic ID checks. They need end-to-end verification of the documents that underpin enrollment and aid decisions.&nbsp;

A layered approach using AI to flag suspicious behavior and Veri Once to verify documents directly with issuers can dramatically reduce fraud risk, protect institutional reputation, and safeguard opportunities for genuine students. You may never eliminate fraud entirely, but you can make your systems and practices resilient enough that bad actors are deterred.&nbsp;