2008 Woodie Awards
FBI, Education Dept. review student records in terrorism probe
Issue date: 9/4/06 Section: News Briefs
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Searching for terrorists, the FBI and the Education Department's investigative arm have secretly vetted people applying for college aid, documents show.
The goal of "Project Strike Back'' was to determine if terrorism suspects, through identity theft or other means, illegally obtained college aid to finance their operations.
The data-mining project first was disclosed by Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
The secret effort began right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The program was shut down this June, nearly five years later, according to documents obtained through Medill's Freedom of Information Act request.
Under the program, the FBI gave names to the Education Department's Office of Inspector General, which ran them through databases of millions of financial aid applications to determine if student aid had been sought or obtained.
Fewer than 1,000 names were checked against the databases, said Cathy Milhoan, spokeswoman for the FBI.
"In the post 9-11 world, it's the job of the FBI to connect the dots and follow our investigation wherever it leads us,'' Milhoan said. "We appreciate the effort of everyone, the Department of Education, the IG, and every other citizen out there that's helped us.''
She added that the data-mining is legal and limited: "We're not out there arbitrarily pulling citizens' information. We do it in accordance with the law.''
Medill's disclosure of the review of students' records is the latest revelation in a broad, and controversial, effort by the Bush administration to mine data. Advocates say the work is aimed at saving lives.
"This is going to be quite an unwelcome surprise to college students and their families,'' said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education, an umbrella lobbying group for higher education.
Hartle said law enforcement owes the public an explanation.
The goal of "Project Strike Back'' was to determine if terrorism suspects, through identity theft or other means, illegally obtained college aid to finance their operations.
The data-mining project first was disclosed by Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
The secret effort began right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The program was shut down this June, nearly five years later, according to documents obtained through Medill's Freedom of Information Act request.
Under the program, the FBI gave names to the Education Department's Office of Inspector General, which ran them through databases of millions of financial aid applications to determine if student aid had been sought or obtained.
Fewer than 1,000 names were checked against the databases, said Cathy Milhoan, spokeswoman for the FBI.
"In the post 9-11 world, it's the job of the FBI to connect the dots and follow our investigation wherever it leads us,'' Milhoan said. "We appreciate the effort of everyone, the Department of Education, the IG, and every other citizen out there that's helped us.''
She added that the data-mining is legal and limited: "We're not out there arbitrarily pulling citizens' information. We do it in accordance with the law.''
Medill's disclosure of the review of students' records is the latest revelation in a broad, and controversial, effort by the Bush administration to mine data. Advocates say the work is aimed at saving lives.
"This is going to be quite an unwelcome surprise to college students and their families,'' said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education, an umbrella lobbying group for higher education.
Hartle said law enforcement owes the public an explanation.
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