Education Department reports over $400 million saved through fraud crackdown

Since the launch of the White House Fraud Task Force in March 2026, the Education Department has focused on eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in federal student-aid programs. Officials report that tighter identity verification and the reinstatement of data-sharing agreements have prevented fraudulent disbursements, resulting in more than $400 million saved for taxpayers. Deputy Under Secretary James Bergeron noted that reactivating verification systems immediately saved $30 million by stopping payments to deceased individuals and $10 million by preventing Pell grant overpayments.

In April 2026, the department introduced a new FAFSA platform that incorporates real-time risk-based screening. The task force also claims to have uncovered nearly $230 billion in fraud overall, halted $56 billion in fraudulent payments, and secured over $55 billion through legal actions. These measures are presented as a reversal of previous policies that had reduced safeguards.