Minnesota State prepares to pilot new technology to combat financial aid fraud. Is it enough? 

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — A two-year school in the Twin Cities suburbs, Century College educates about 8,700 students. And its employees spend roughly 60 hours a week fending off financial aid fraud attempts by criminals.

Those hours are largely spent scouting out so-called “ghost students,” criminals who enroll in classes using stolen or fake identities just long enough to receive financial aid — and then disappear.  

History professor Joe Haker first noticed the problem three years ago, when he wondered why one student in his gender studies class had submitted the same assignment as a student in his history course. 

“I thought, ‘Well, that’s weird. That probably could only happen if they were the same person,’” Haker said.

Nine students turned out to be the same person. This summer, Ha...