Online education has opened up a whole new world of opportunity to students all over the world. While online learning has opened the door of opportunity for students — it has opened that same door for financial aid fraud. ProctorU chief strategy officer and co-founder Jarrod Morgan, in a recently published article in EdScoop, looks at what fraud can cost colleges and universities and what schools can do to fight it.
According to Morgan, not only does student aid fraud cost institutions in dollars, it can cost them in time and reputation, as well.
Once a school has fallen victim to a student aid scam, identifying and documenting the activities of a financial aid fraud ring can be incredibly time consuming and a school’s brand integrity can receive damage in their community, and among policy makers and their board of trustees as well.
Morgan suggests that schools fight fire with fire, or in this case, technology with technology.
To fight this type of activity, schools can use video to visually verify that a person is who they say they are when enrolled in a class. Or, they can take this one step further and employ an authentication process, which asks an individual basic questions based on public records while being monitored by a proctor. Now, schools can even utilize biometrics, such as facial recognition and measuring keystroke dynamics to confirm a student’s identity.
ProctorU is the leading provider of student authentication services and live online proctoring. To learn more about how to fight financial aid fraud, click here.
About ProctorU
ProctorU watches students take exams online using webcams and screen-sharing technology. The service gives students the convenience of testing at home and instructors the ability to ensure exam security.
ProctorU uses a three-step process that confirms that the student who registered for the exam is the individual who is taking the exam and is following the institution’s testing requirements. Test monitors can see the student, see what they are doing and know who they are monitoring using webcams and screen-sharing technology. ProctorU offers live, person-to-person, real-time monitoring to more than 900 colleges, universities and certification organizations.