Fake students using AI-generated coursework swindled roughly $6.5 million in student aid from September 2021 through December 2023, according to California state statistics.
Community colleges across the US are contending with the rise of fake “bot” students, who use AI-generated coursework to fraudulently claim state and federal student aid, according to an investigative piece by The Voice of San Diego.
Elizabeth Smith, a professor at Southwestern College, a community college in Chula Vista, California, found that just 14 out of the 104 students originally enrolled in her class were real people.
“I’m not teaching, I’m playing a cop now,” she said, adding that the experience was “surreal.”
The trend reportedly started in earnest in 2021, when pandemic lockdowns pushed most community college classes online, while more people than ever took the opportunity to sign up for online courses.
The investigation highlighted data from the California State Chancellor’s Office, which estimated a quarter of community college applicants were bots in 2024, and that the bot army swindled the state and federal government out of a combined $13 million in student aid in the 12 months ending April 2025.
