January 1, Biden’s Federal Agents Infiltrate US Colleges

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The Biden administration will soon send undercover agents to U.S. colleges and universities, the Department of Education recently announced.

The Education Department said that the Enforcement Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) “will use secret shoppers as an additional tool to monitor postsecondary institutions’ compliance with the laws and regulations governing their participation in the federal student aid programs.”

Agents will pose as students to identify any “misrepresentations regarding the transferability of credits, job placement rates, completion and withdrawal rates, graduates’ future earning potential, career services, the cost of attendance, the amount of federal student aid, and accreditation status,” the department said.

Additionally, the “secret shoppers” will look for “any other practices that may violate the laws and regulations governing an institution’s participation in the federal student aid programs.”

The FSA agents will share their findings with the Office of Inspector General, as well as other state and federal law enforcement partners.

The announcement is meant to put schools “on notice,” said Kristen Donoghue, FSA’s chief enforcement officer.

“Schools that engage in fraud or misconduct are on notice that we may be listening, and they should clean up accordingly,” Donoghue said. “But schools that treat current and prospective students fairly and act lawfully have nothing to fear from secret shopping.”

FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray said the agency’s “focus—as always—is to ensure that students, borrowers, families, and taxpayers are not being preyed upon to make a quick buck.”

But some say the Biden administration’s use of “secret shoppers” is too partisan.

“Given the current administration’s animus toward for-profit institutions, we are concerned this self-proclaimed ‘tool’ will be used as a weapon to inflict further damage upon private career schools and limit student choice,” said Nicholas Kent, CECU’s chief policy officer.

Sources: Department of Education | Daily Caller