So-called "ghost students" are reportedly fueling a growing financial aid fraud crisis in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and across the country.These ghost students allegedly steal identities to enroll online and apply for taxpayer-funded financial aid.'These fraudsters are very well organized and well financed.'KSTP reported in October that the Minnesota State system, which consists of 33 colleges and universities, had flagged over 7,700 “fraudulent” or “potentially fraudulent” financial aid applications in the 2024-2025 academic year. In nearly 95% of those cases, the ghost students had applied to two-year community colleges. The fraud was identified before any money was distributed.KSTP discovered two cases in which funds were distributed to fraudsters who had enrolled in a community college. The cases came to light after a man in Hutchinson, Kansas, reported that someone had used his name and Social Security number to collect $13,000. Another individual stated that his information was used to take out two student loans worth over $6,700. A Minnesota State spokesperson told KSTP in October that at least three schools had paid between $9,500 and $63,500 back to the federal government after discovering ghost students. Craig Munson, the chief information security officer for the Minnesota State system, addressed the ongoing fraud issues during a Thursday Minnesota House hearing. “These fraudsters are very well organized and well financed,” Munson said. “Stealing money that was intended for real students in need of financial aid.”RELATED: The insane little story that failed to warn America about the depth of Somali fraud Photo by JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty ImagesWhen questioned about how much the fraud scheme has cost the Minnesota State system, Munson did not provide a dollar amount but noted that he believes “we are making very good progress” in addressing the issue.Munson explained that the school system is still seeing a similar number of fraud cases, but that ghost students are now targeting more four-year colleges and universities.RELATED: Tim Walz's nightmare continues as HHS shuts off $185M to Minnesota amid allegedly 'fake' Somali day care centers Photo by: Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images“It used to be more of the two-year [colleges], we’re starting to see they’re looking at all colleges and universities,” he said. “It could be a couple of reasons — that they’ve learned the system to its extent, and they want to extend their stay in the system and transfer to a four-year possibly. We’re also seeing some positive reports that many of our two-year colleges are seeing a little bit of a reduction in these fraud attempts.”During Thursday’s hearing, Munson presented a fraud report detailing the growing threat and recommendations to address it, including implementing an automated identity-proofing system that would cost $1 million to $1.5 million per year. A spokesperson for the Minnesota State system told Blaze News that enrollment fraud is a problem for colleges and universities across the nation. “The Minnesota State IT Services team has implemented a variety of safeguards to protect against this threat," the spokesperson stated. "Nationally, there has been a significant rise in this activity and we have been working to install additional safeguards and provide guidance to our 33 colleges and universities for the last two years. Our schools, in partnership with faculty, have been actively managing this problem, identifying ghost students early in each semester and removing them from our systems to ensure only real students can get the classes they need and financial aid is distributed to the students who need it to achieve their academic goals.""In addition, this last fall a more formal Enrollment Fraud Working Group that includes experts in IT, Academic and Student Affairs, and Audit from the Minnesota State system office, as well as faculty, staff, and student representatives from throughout the system was formed. The goal of the group is to identify additional safeguards the colleges and universities of Minnesota State can put in place to keep ghost students out,” the spokesperson added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Idaho police are trying to identify and locate a man who allegedly stole an ambulance and rammed it into a building housing a Department of Homeland Security office before failing to light it all on fire.The incident began at St. Luke's Hospital, where the suspect stole an ambulance, then crashed it into the lobby of the building on Wednesday at about 11 p.m. in Meridian, according to Meridian police. Meridian is a suburb of Boise.'If the suspect had not been interrupted, there is no doubt this building would have been burned, putting the lives of first responders and others at risk.' After he crashed the ambulance, the suspect retrieved cans with some sort of accelerant that were hidden in bushes and doused the vehicle with the substance, according to police."It appears the suspect was unable to ignite the accelerant before being scared off by responding agencies," said Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea in a statement.Police said the suspect was wearing a medical mask as well as a black shirt and tan pants.Basterrechea noted that there had been chatter online criticizing the presence of DHS at the building and called the incident a "serious criminal act."He also addressed "absolutely false" comments on social media denying that property damage is violence."This was absolutely an act of violence, and if the suspect had not been interrupted, there is no doubt this building would have been burned, putting the lives of first responders and others at risk," he added.Because the suspect had apparently planted the accelerant before stealing the ambulance and had driven about a quarter of a mile to the building with the DHS office, police believe the attack was intentional. Canyon County Paramedics issued a statement about the incident.RELATED: Video shows brawl after walkout student hits pro-ICE man — who is charged with child abuse "No Canyon County Paramedics personnel were inside the ambulance at the time of the incident," read the statement. "There are currently no confirmed injuries to members of the public or first responders connected to this event."Basterrechea said his department was leading the investigation, but they were cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as DHS and other agencies.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Back in the fall of 2025, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles and honors by King Charles III, due to ongoing controversy and persistent ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.This week, on his 66th birthday, the ex-Duke of York was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his Epstein ties but released just hours later.When Glenn Beck heard the news of the disgraced former prince’s arrest, he was incredulous. “Notice: Nobody is going to jail for actually having sex with children. … [Mountbatten-Windsor] was arrested for ‘wrongdoing,”’ he says mockingly. “Well, I think having sex with underage kids is wrongdoing.”Glenn cites a recent Reuters poll that found that 69% of Americans strongly agree with the statement: “The files show that powerful people are rarely held accountable.” 17% somewhat agreed with the statement, and only 11% disagreed.“This is universal,” says Glenn, “and yet all that we're seeing is people playing politics with it.”On February 16, a panel of independent U.N. human rights experts declared that the content within the Epstein files may constitute “crimes against humanity.”“That's the U.N. — crimes against humanity! But who was having sex with kids?” Glenn exclaims.Every time more information about Epstein comes out, we’re left with “more questions,” never actual answers, he laments.“They release stuff and you're like, wait a minute. Well, that just opens up more. It's not clarity. It's fog. And it's happening everywhere — both sides of the Atlantic,” he says, citing the U.K.'s long-running grooming-gangs scandal, where Parliament voted down a Conservative push for a national inquiry in January 2025, despite the massive scale of child exploitation.Glenn mocks the politicians claiming that "we care so much about our children.”“I don't think you care about our children. I'm beginning to think you're not really human,” he says.But it’s not just politicians who are to blame; part of the problem, he says, is us.“The outrage that we all have on any topic lasts about 72 hours, and then we move on. Have you noticed that one?” Glenn asks.“I don't know what that says about us. Does it say that we're overwhelmed? That there's just a new thing to be outraged on every 72 hours? That we're exhausted? ... Does it say that we're fragmented into so many tribes that we're only pursuing accountability when it hurts the other team?”Glenn fears the answer may be far darker.Perhaps “we've become totally accustomed to scandal,” he says, or worse — “Nothing's real any more. Child rape is not real any more. Even our outrage isn't real any more.”He argues that social media is the only reason we’re even still talking about Epstein. Without X, Facebook, and other platforms artificially prolonging and amplifying the scandal, Glenn fears the public would have long forgotten the convicted sex offender and his countless victims.“There was a time in Great Britain … in the entire West, if there was a whiff of corruption at high levels: national reckoning,” he says.But today, we just “wait it out,” and scandal after scandal just quietly “goes away.”To hear Glenn’s full monologue, watch the video above.Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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