'Ghost students' stealing millions in financial aid from CA community colleges, investigation findsSAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- We are losing millions of tax dollars right now to what are known as "ghost students" -- online scammers who enroll in community colleges and get away with financial aid meant for actual students from the Bay Area. Admissions staff for San Jose's community colleges are stretched thin trying to catch ghost students who use stolen or fake identities to enroll in classes and obtain financial aid. "And we would find that maybe six of those actual enrollees were students and the rest were fraudulent accounts, ghost students." California Community Colleges confirms that in 2024 -- the most recent data available -- 31.4% of all applications to the state's 116 community colleges were fraudulent. We're providing financial resources to actual students, not losing those resources to ghost students, to the criminal activity that still happens.