No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026

What this does

Congress requires the Secretary of Education to screen every FAFSA filed on or after October 1, 2026 for identity fraud and blocks colleges from paying federal aid to a flagged applicant until the applicant's identity is verified.

House vote · 249-172

Democrats36–172

Republicans212–0

Independents1–0

How we know · 7 sourced claims

The bill requires the Secretary of Education to screen every FAFSA filed on or after October 1, 2026, through an identity fraud detection system for reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.Source: Sec. 2(a), new HEA 483(e)(1)(A) (lines 22-23)
When a FAFSA presents reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, the Secretary must notify the applicant and each institution the applicant designated in the application.Source: Sec. 2(a), new HEA 483(e)(2) (lines 24-29)
A flagged applicant's institution may not disburse federal financial aid until it confirms the applicant's identity using in-person verification, live synchronous audiovisual verification, NIST IAL2-compliant verification, or a Secretary-approved equivalent method.Source: Sec. 2(b), new HEA 487(a)(15)(B)(i) (lines 40-45)
The bill makes institutions that show a pattern of disbursing aid on or after October 1, 2026, to flagged students a priority category for program review, unless the institution demonstrates compliance with section 487(a)(15)(B).Source: Sec. 3, amending HEA 498A(a)(2) (lines 48-50)
The Secretary must give Congress a written description of the detection system by November 1, 2026, and must evaluate and report on its effectiveness by October 1, 2027, and annually thereafter.Source: Sec. 2(a), new HEA 483(e)(3) (lines 30-34)
All three sections amend the same statute, the Higher Education Act of 1965, and operate on the single subject of FAFSA identity fraud, making the bill single-subject.Source: Sec. 2(a) amends HEA 483; Sec. 2(b) amends HEA 487; Sec. 3 amends HEA 498A (lines 18-50)
The operative text is the Engrossed in House version, which passed the House of Representatives on June 10, 2026.Source: Version header (line 2) and passage line (line 50)

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House roll call

The full roll call

R212–0D36–172I1–0

Position

Party

State

Republicans

218

Democrats

212

Independents

YeaKevin KileyCA · District 3