Biometrics to Deter Education Related Financial Aid Fraud: 2017 and 2019 Survey Results Reveal Strong Opinions Supporting the Use of Biometrics and Against Using Biometrics

Abstract

Education related financial aid fraud is significant. It has not been successfully deterred by prior and existing methods. This article reports survey results exploring using biometrics (e.g., finger prints, eye irises, facial and/or voice recognition) as a method to deter financial aid fraud. It includes and builds on the work of Gray and Tahlier (2018). In 2017, Gray and Tahlier surveyed college graduates under the assumption that they were more likely to have had experience with and/or have awareness of financial aid for education. In 2019 for this article, college graduates were invited to complete the same survey to check for changes in experience with and feeling about biometrics. Strong opinions for and against using biometrics to deter fraud were reported. While the majority of the respondents supported the use of biometrics, the respondents who opposed the use of biometrics were adamantly against biometrics with invasion of privacy as the top concern. Those who support it felt it was the wave of the future and a positive trend. A little over 61% felt that using biometrics to deter financial aid fraud in both 2017 and 2019. Despite using biometrics increased for personal identify protection on iPhones and computers, the opinions about whether using biometrics for protecting against financial aid stayed the same.