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Admiral Patrick @dubvee.org

As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond

voiceofsandiego.org

As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond

Community colleges have been dealing with an unprecedented phenomenon: fake students bent on stealing financial aid funds. While it has caused chaos at many colleges, some Southwestern faculty feel their leaders haven’t done enough to curb the crisis.

Ever since the pandemic forced schools to go virtual, the number of online classes offered by community colleges has exploded. That has been a welcome development for many students who value the flexibility online classes offer. But it has also given rise to the incredibly invasive and uniquely modern phenomenon of bot students now besieging community college professors like Smith.

The bots’ goal is to bilk state and federal financial aid money by enrolling in classes, and remaining enrolled in them, long enough for aid disbursements to go out. They often accomplish this by submitting AI-generated work. And because community colleges accept all applicants, they’ve been almost exclusively impacted by the fraud.

3 comments

  • How is the aid money not going to the school? How does the college not require at least a video interview to iniate classes? Aren't federal aid funds tied to SSNs?

    • How is the aid money not going to the school?

      When I did all that, the checks went to me, and I (or rather my parents) sent it to the school. Anything left over was "free" party money (which I am still paying back lol)

      How does the college not require at least a video interview to iniate classes?

      No idea. Community colleges are pretty much open to everyone who applies until they fill up, so maybe it's generally not necessary (until now)? I went to a state university back in the stone age and didn't have to do any kind of interview.

      Aren't federal aid funds tied to SSNs?

      Yes, but I'm assuming they used stolen ones. It's not like everyone in the US hasn't been part of one data breach or another 😔

      Another question would be high school transcripts. Those were required, but I guess they could have forged / hallucinated those too.

      • How does the college not require at least a video interview to initiate classes?

        Not quite initiation, but at the community college I attend, if you do not attend class and make an effort by doing at least one assignment by the end of the first week, you will be dropped from the classes. Get dropped from them all and I'm fairly certain no financial aid for you.

        Also, for the first 40 credits, the college requires you to see a guidance counselor in order to sign up for classes, either via a zoom meeting or in person. They probably have ways around all that, but it's at least a step in the right direction.