Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Feds Slam Michigan Jewish Institute for ‘Illegal’ Pell Grant Fraud Scam

The U.S. Department of Education has accused the Michigan Jewish Institute, a college in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield, of illegally obtaining federal Pell Grants for its study abroad program.

“The Department will permit this scheme to continue no longer,” the DOE stated in a damning , outlining their investigation.

Last week, the DOE cut off federal funding, denying the school recertification in the Title IV student financial aid program. Most employees were let go and core operations came to a halt.

The letter from the DOE to MJI president Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov reveals that MJI violated all of the essential requirements to be eligible for federal funding, including “substantial misrepresentations” in their record-keeping.

MJI has received millions of dollars in federal grants for its study abroad program. But, the DOE stated, “MJI turned the notion of a study abroad program on its head and demonstrated it was awarding Pell Grants to students who were not ‘regular students.’”

“The evidence the department has reviewed shows that many, if not most, of MJI students had no interest in obtaining, or intention of receiving, a degree or certificate offered by MJI,” stated the DOE letter, signed by Susan D. Crim, director of DOE’s Administrative Actions and Appeals Service Group. “These students had no meaningful connection to MJI, except that MJI used them to illegally obtain Pell Grants on their behalf.”

The letter includes analyses of LinkedIn profiles for around 30 MJI students studying in Israel. “None of these students stated anything about attending MJI,” the letter stated. “To the contrary, these students were all studying at foreign institutions with the purpose of obtaining a degree from a foreign institution, and had no connection to MJI other than as a source of federal funds.”

MJI leadership declined to speak. But in a statement the school said that it would be contesting the action.

“MJI has been accredited by the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) since 1998,” the statement read. “ACICS was fully aware of the nature of the programs and the fact that nearly all MJI students were U.S. citizens living in Israel. ACICS concluded that the programs were legitimate career focused programs and that MJI was in compliance with ACICS criteria.”

The DOE’s extensive letter to MJI was also sent to ACICS, which had previously accredited MJI through 2017. ACICS then sent a separate letter to MJI, warning that their accreditation would be revoked.

“I always thought our study abroad program was a bit funny,” one former MJI employee said, speaking anonymously. “But the ACICS had come in and accredited us. So we thought our study abroad program was on the up-and-up.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.