Overview

September 25
11AM PT, 2PM ET

Register

As the fall term approaches, colleges and universities aren’t just welcoming new students—they’re also facing a surge in fraudulent applications from so-called "ghost students." These fake, stolen or synthetic identities exploit automated admissions and financial aid systems, siphoning public funds and threatening the integrity of higher education.

In this timely webinar, we’ll examine how institutions can defend against this growing threat using modern identity verification and fraud analytics. From initial application to aid disbursement, you’ll learn how to detect fraud early — without slowing down access for legitimate students — by leveraging device intelligence, risk scoring and behavioral analytics to flag risk in real time.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The scope and impact of ghost student fraud in higher education
  • How bad actors use fake or stolen identities to access financial aid
  • Where and how to embed digital identity verification in the admissions lifecycle
  • How device intelligence and behavioral analytics flag risk in real time
  • Case studies from institutions proactively fighting enrollment fraud
  • Strategies to protect equity while enforcing verification standards

Protecting public funds and maintaining trust in higher education has never been more urgent. Join us to discover how your institution can stay one step ahead — ensuring aid goes to real students, not ghost identities.

Speakers

Neal Galucci headshot

Neal Galucci

Sr Solutions Consultant, Socure

Neal is a driven leader focusing on major digital transformation that constantly challenges the norms of the public sector. Neal has a wide variety of experience in identity and access management, identity verification, criminal/fraud investigations, technical architecture, project management, change management, and steady state operations. At Socure, Neal is the Senior Manager of Solution Consulting within Socure’s Public Sector team where he is responsible for providing fully inclusive oversight and guidance of Socure’s industry leading product suite and integration into Government systems.  In Neal's previous public position, he built and led the digital identity platform for one of the largest states. In this role Neal accomplished major digital transformations migrating the State’s existing identity system to a cloud identity system, implementing Single Sign On to thousands of applications (Unemployment, BMV, Medicaid, etc) including MFA and identity verification services. Additionally, Neal led the User Experience/Website platform with over 150+ government websites, and the digital platform for State’s coronavirus pandemic response. At Socure, Neal continues to lead all of Socure's major projects as a dedicated advisor to the State's business and implementation teams. 

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D. headshot

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program, where he focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies. Before transitioning to academia and higher education, he had a diverse gov tech career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Mississippi. He has served in CIO, CTO, and CISO roles for local governments and also in various leadership positions within the state of Mississippi’s IT organization as a deputy to the state CIO. Dr. Rials holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belhaven University, a master’s degree in computer information systems and cybersecurity from Missouri State University, as well as a Ph.D. in higher education administration and public administration from Jackson State University. His dissertation research involved the critical factors that affect the adoption of cloud services within the public sector. He is a noted expert in the IT and cybersecurity space and is frequently quoted by national media outlets. He is also a frequent contributor to national IT government organizations such as NASTD and NASCIO.

Brian Cohen headshot

Brian Cohen — Moderator

Vice President of the Center for Digital Government and Center Digital Education

Brian Cohen is the Vice President of the Center for Digital Government and Center Digital Education. Prior to joining the Center, Brian served for 30 years in IT leadership roles with the City of New York and most recently with the City University of New York (CUNY). As the Vice-Chancellor and University CIO at CUNY, Brian directed the Office of Computing and Information Services (CIS), developed, and managed the enterprise IT vision, strategy and day-to-day technology operations of the University. His areas of focus included academic and business systems, cloud strategies, IT policies and procedures, Cybersecurity, project management, IT resiliency and disaster recovery, and network and telecommunications. During his time with the City of New York, Brian developed the City of New York’s E-Government strategy, implemented the City’s award-winning nyc.gov website, and managed the City’s effort to address the Y2K technology challenge.

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