Eye on ED

Student Aid Fraud Rings – What They Are, Who They Target, What’s Being Done to Stop Them.

Thousands of entities like school districts and universities participate in Federal education programs and receive Federal education funds each year. Who helps ensure that those entities expended those funds appropriately? Nonfederal auditors! Learn about nonfederal audits and the OIG in this episode.

Cyber criminals and fraudsters are targeting student loan borrowers with schemes and scams aimed at separating you from your money, stealing your personal information, or both. The impact of falling victim to these scams can be severe—your identity stolen, credit cards and loans taken out in your name, your bank account zeroed out, and your credit score ruined. Student loan schemes and scams are n...

Estoy segura de que todos nuestros oyentes en alguna manera tienen experiencia con los préstamos estudiantiles. Algunos han sacado un préstamo para pagar sus estudios universitarios, otros quizás han ayudado a sus hijos obtener un préstamo, o conocen a alguien que ha obtenido uno.  Y desafortunadamente esto también lo saben las empresas deshonestas, los delincuentes cibernéticos, y los estafadores...

July 30 is National Whistleblower Appreciation Day—a day our nation celebrates the brave individuals who step forward to report fraud, corruption, and other wrongdoing in government programs, sometimes at great personal risk. Their contributions have helped to root out fraud and restore integrity in government programs. Fighting fraud and ensuring integrity in U.S. Department of Education programs...

You’ve probably read the headlines in newspapers. School officials—some very senior officials like school superintendents and school board members—have gone to prison for stealing or otherwise abusing Federal education funds. In our Semiannual Reports to Congress, we regularly share examples of our investigative cases involving millions of dollars lost to fraud, abuse, and criminal activity involv...

In this episode, we talk about the Education OIG's work involving improper payments. Improper payments are payments made by the government to the wrong person, in the wrong amount, or for the wrong reason. Identifying and recovering improper payments is a statutory requirement for Federal agencies, as effective stewardship of taxpayer funds is a critical responsibility of every agency within...

Bienvenidos a un episodio especial de Eye on ED—el podcast oficial de la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Educación. La Oficina del Inspector General tiene una parte crítica en el proceso federal para la recuperación de desastres. Estamos encargados de auditar al Departamento de Educación en el gasto de los fondos designados para la recuperación, examinar la eficacia de los progra...

When you think about natural disasters, like hurricanes or wildfires, and the Federal response to those disasters, you are probably thinking about FEMA, not the U.S. Department of Education. Yet the Department received about $2.7 billion to help schools in the States and territories impacted by the 2017 hurricanes and wildfires.  Those funds can be used for a number of different things, including...

Join us as we talk with Howard Sorensen, Assistant Counsel to the Inspector General, and Greg Bernert, an auditor from the Education OIG Chicago office. They will talk to us about an Education OIG audit of Federal Student Aid, or FSA, oversight of student loan servicers. Specifically, the audit looked at whether steps FSA took to oversee the servicers lowered the risk of servicers not complying wi...

What can happen if the U.S. Department of Education doesn't comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as FERPA? FERPA grants rights and protections to students related to the personal information in their education records. FERPA violations can have a big impact on students. Violations could lead to bullying or affect students’ ability to graduate or get...