The Education Department Is Exposing Tens of Millions in Covid-Era Fraud

The U.S. Department of Education, working with its Office of Inspector General, says it has uncovered tens of millions of dollars in fraud and mismanagement tied to COVID-19 pandemic education relief funds. This is part of the Trump Administration's broader push to crack down on waste across federal education programs.Why it matters: Congress distributed roughly $190 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds across three rounds between 2020 and 2021. This is more than three times what the federal government typically spends on K-12 education annually. The Department says much of it went out with weak safeguards and reduced oversight, creating openings for bad actors to exploit.

The Department of Education says it is working to restore the income-driven repayment (IDR) payment count tracker on StudentAid.gov — reversing its own prior statement that the tool would not return.Updated guidance published March 27 on the StudentAid.gov FAQ page states: “The court actions require that we modify the display of the IDR payment counters, which will require additional system changes. We are working to update our systems to make those changes.”The department provided no timeline, no details on what modifications are being made, and no explanation of what “additional system changes” are required.

Receiving multiple college acceptance letters can be both thrilling and confusing. It's a time when students may wonder if it’s permissible to hang onto more than just one of those golden tickets. But you shouldn’t jump to say yes to more than one offer. Each college admissions offer you accept constitutes a commitment and potentially a legal obligation.Here’s a closer look at whether or not you can accept more than one college admission offer and how you should navigate this important decision with potentially lifelong implications.

he Internal Revenue Service announced that taxpayers have opened more than 4 million Trump Accounts. Of those enrollments, more than 1 million families have elected to receive the $1,000 "Baby Bonus" contribution available through the Trump Accounts pilot program.The numbers, based on Form 4547 submissions filed with individual tax returns, signal strong early adoption of a program that could reshape how American families save for their children’s futures.

If you’re a college student or family relying on financial aid, President Trump’s newly released fiscal year 2027 budget proposal (PDF File) could signal major changes ahead. The plan calls for eliminating two long-standing aid programs, freezing Pell Grant awards at their current dollar amount, and continuing the administration’s push to shut down the Department of Education entirely.The proposal, unveiled on Friday, requests $76.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, a $2.3 billion (2.9%) decrease from last year. Including both mandatory and discretionary funding, the administration requested $124.4 billion for federal student aid.The budget document describes these moves as putting the department on a “path to elimination,” with programs transferred to other agencies and staff reduced.Here’s what the proposal includes, what it would mean for your wallet, and why it may or may not actually happen.

The test-optional era in college admissions is rapidly drawing to a close. What began as an emergency response to Covid-19 disruptions has turned into one of the most significant policy reversals in recent higher education history.From the Ivy League to SEC flagships, schools are bringing back SAT and ACT requirements, and some are now accepting the Classic Learning Test (CLT) as well. According to Brian Eufinger, co-founder of Edison Prep, "Even at schools that remain test-optional, scores are often still required to compete for top-tier merit scholarships."For the high school class of 2027, which will begin submitting applications this fall, standardized testing is once again a central part of the college admissions equation.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness remains one of the best student loan forgiveness programs for federal student loan borrowers working in government or at qualifying nonprofits.The core program hasn’t changed: you still need to hit four requirements to get your loans forgiven. But the rules around those requirements are shifting in 2026, and if you’re actively pursuing PSLF, you need to understand what’s different.Here are the four pillars of PSLF eligibility and what’s changing with each.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that more than 10 million Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms for the 2026-27 academic year have been completed and processed this application cycle.That represents a 17% increase over the number of applications completed at this point during the previous year and a 487% jump compared to two years ago, when the Biden Administration’s botched rollout of a redesigned FAFSA form left millions of families waiting months for processing.The Department credited the improvement to what it called "the earliest FAFSA launch in history".

Across the country, colleges are discovering that their enrollment rolls are full of students who don’t actually exist. They’re called “ghost students”—fabricated or stolen identities used by scammers to enroll in college courses, trigger federal financial aid disbursements, and then vanish with the money.The fraud has grown so large that the U.S. Department of Education says it prevented more than $1 billion in attempted student aid theft in 2025 alone. And the problem is getting worse.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it will move out of its longtime headquarters in Washington, D.C., downsizing to a smaller building. The agency will relocate to a smaller federal office one block away, a move that underscores how much the department has shrunk under the Trump administration’s push to dismantle it.The LBJ building, which sits at 400 Maryland Avenue SW, is now approximately 70% vacant following a reduction in force that cut nearly half of the department’s workforce.The move is targeted for August 2026.