To put this in context, the U of U has an annual budget of $8.6B. <$1M in potential losses for ALL public Utah universities is almost a rounding error. Still worth stopping, but not as huge of an issue as it might seem.
The phenomenon occurs when people use fake or stolen IDs to apply for financial aid and college admission.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2026/06/17/ghost-students-have-stolen-500k
