“Across America’s community colleges and universities, sophisticated criminal networks are using AI to deploy thousands of “synthetic” or “ghost” students—sometimes in the dead of night—to attack colleges. The hordes are cramming themselves into registration portals to enroll and illegally apply for financial aid. The ghost students then occupy seats meant for real students—and have even resorted to handing in homework just to hold out long enough to siphon millions in financial aid before disappearing. The scope of the ghost-student plague is staggering.” ““When we got hit in the fall, we got hit hard,” Kim, president of California’s Santiago Canyon College, told Fortune. “They were occupying our wait lists, and they were in our classrooms as if they were real humans—and then our real students were saying they couldn’t get into the classes they needed.”” “”Kim worked quickly to bring in an AI firm to help protect the college and strengthen its guardrails, she said. Santiago Canyon wound up dropping more than 10,000 enrollments representing thousands of students who were not really students, said Kim. By spring 2025, ghost student enrollments had dropped from 14,000 since the start of the spring term to fewer than 3,000.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/ghost-students-hijacking-millions-colleges-112700195.html
Haunting assessment of the ghostly situation. I've heard they brought in an AI called... H – Higher-ed A – Assistance L – Liaison
