S. 4531 – Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated May 19, 2026 at 3:12 AM UTC

The Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026 changes the Higher Education Act to make the Department of Education focus its oversight on colleges that give federal financial aid to students whose FAFSA shows a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud. It requires the Secretary to prioritize program reviews of those schools unless they can prove they verified the student’s identity before the aid was paid.

Key Provisions

Adds a new priority category (F) for program reviews of institutions identified as having disbursed aid to students with suspected identity fraud.
Defines “identified institutions” as any that, on or after Oct. 1, 2026, paid federal aid to a student whose FAFSA triggered a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, unless the school verified the student’s identity in person or via live video before disbursement and notified the Secretary.
Allows schools to exclude themselves from identification by showing they followed the Secretary’s verification procedures and kept records of the verification.
Specifies that being identified can be used for audits, investigations, and other oversight, but does not by itself mean the school has violated the law.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

May 14, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

May 14, 2026

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

May 14, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued May 14, 2026

II

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 4531

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 14, 2026

Mr. Husted (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, and Mr. Tuberville) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to prioritize program reviews of institutions of higher education that disburse Federal financial aid under title IV of such Act without verifying the identity of a student whose FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026.

2.

Program review priority category

(a)

Program review priority category

Section 498A(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c–1(a)(2)) is amended—

(1)

in subparagraph (E), by striking and at the end;

(2)

by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G); and

(3)

by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:

(F)

institutions identified under paragraph (4); and

.

(b)

Identification of institutions

Section 498A(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c–1(a)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and

(2)

by adding at the end the following:

(4)

shall identify each institution that has disbursed, on or after October 1, 2026, Federal financial aid under this title for an award year to any student whose application under section 483 for such award year presented a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, as determined by the identity fraud detection system used by the Secretary, except that the Secretary shall exclude from such identification any institution that demonstrates to the Secretary that, with respect to each such student, before the disbursement of Federal financial aid to the student, the institution, in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary, determined that a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud was not present by confirming the identity of such student using in-person verification or live, synchronous audiovisual verification and notified the Secretary that the identity of the student has been verified, and maintains a record of such identity verification.

.

(c)

Special considerations

Section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c–1) is further amended by adding at the following:

(f)

Special considerations

Identification of an institution under subsection (a)(4)—

(1)

may be used to inform program reviews, audits, investigations, and other oversight activities authorized under this title; and

(2)

shall not, by itself, constitute a determination that an institution has failed to meet the requirements of this title.

.