LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Cyber hackers targeted the College of Southern Nevada, and the school is now on the hook for millions of dollars. 

CSN revealed at Thursday’s Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents meeting it was the victim of a scheme called “ghost students.” 

“The core issue is we were attacked,” Vice President of Student Affairs at CSN Juan Avalos said. 

Avalos and other leadership from CSN sought to assure the board of regents the attack was caught quickly. 

“[Hackers] tested all the fences. Found weaknesses and then attacked,” Avalos said. “We noticed it. We responded. We created filters to try and protect that.”

According to CSN, the hackers enrolled as transfer students because that specific student group is not as vetted as new enrollees.

From October to December of 2024, the two-year college told regents it was getting a large number of federal financial aid applications. However, on the first day of the spring semester, CSN noticed problems.

“We received the first signal that this was the magnitude that it was on the first day of classes in spring, when students actually had to show up,” Avalos said. “Day one, we had instructors saying I have a full class and no one is here.” 

An external audit showed CSN accumulated a debt of $7.43 million tied to the “ghost students” scheme. The debt included tuition, fees, and write-offs. CSN also had to pay back the U.S. Department of Education for the federal loans it awarded the fake students.

NSHE Regent Patrick Boylan of Clark County questioned how the hack could have happened. 

“There’s no accountability, is that what you’re telling me? No one is being held accountable as usual in NSHE,” Boylan said 

The community college was vulnerable since it is a large school with less enrollment requirements, according to CSN.

“Nothing in the report indicates that we had a failure of an individual staff member or someone else to do their job,” CSN Acting President Dr. William Kibler said. 

Brian Sandoval, president of the University of Nevada, Reno, told regents at Thursday’s meeting most “ghost student” applications come from outside the United States.

As part of an external audit, CSN was told to improve its financial aid process and implement a fraud prevention task force.