Overview

Each year, taxpayers invest $603.7 billion in funding for public elementary and secondary education. In addition to public sources of funds to support education, venture capitalists infuse almost $2.0 billion annually in the education sector with the anticipation of significant gains on their investment. These public and private sources of funds enable more than 100,000 pre-schools, elementary, secondary, and 7,200 post-secondary colleges and universities to support 75.2 million students and employ more than 4.6 million teachers and faculty. Unfortunately with the most benevolent intentions, the threat of fraud increases with the perception of easy money flowing into and out of the coffers of education. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; the education sector is situated in the top five of its annual list of industries for reported cases of fraud. When compared against other industries, the education sector has experienced the highest growth rate for increased risk of fraud and white collar crime. What are the environmental conditions existing in this sector that expose our pre-school, k-12, and post-secondary schools, colleges, and universities to increased incidents of white collar crime? Please join the author as she explores the factors that entice insiders and outsiders to conspire together or act individually to target educational institutions for criminal activities.