One of the most
incredible stories of
the year so far has
been the college
admissions scandal
that exposed several
wealthy people and a few celebrities
who used their money to get their
kids into some of the top schools in
the country. The FBI kicked in doors
and raided homes during its lengthy
investigation that led to 50 people
being charged in the conspiracy.
As more details were uncovered by
reporters in the aftermath, the story
only became more outrageous to
hard-working students and parents
around the country.
Here are 10 of the most
interesting facts about the scandal:
1 Parents charged in the case
allegedly paid a total sum
of $25 million in an eff ort to
have their children admitted into
various schools. Most parents paid
approximately $200,000, while
one paid as much as $6.5 million.
2 The alleged crimes include
bribing SAT and ACT exam
offi cials to help students
cheat on the tests; using a
mock charitable organization to
disguise bribery payments; bribing
coaches and administrators to
designate incoming freshmen as
recruited athletes; submitting
test and class grades as part of
a college application that were
earned by a third party, not the
student applying; and submitting
applications that included
fraudulently-obtained exam
scores, grades, award, and athletic
achievements.
3 The code name for the
investigation was “Operation
Varsity Blues.”
4 The man at the center of the
controversy, William “Rick”
Singer, operated a for-profi t
counseling and admissions company
and a non-profi t foundation, and he
allegedly had more than 700 clients.
5 Singer faces up to 65 years in
jail for allegedly having third
parties take, or change answers
to, the SAT and ACT for students,
and conspiring with coaches to fake
athletic credentials for non-athletic
recruits.
6 Lori Loughlin, better known as
Aunt Becky from “Full House,”
and her husband allegedly paid
$500,000 to have their daughters
designated as recruits of the crew
team at the University of Southern
California (USC), despite the fact that
their daughters never participated in
crew.
7 Other people named in the
indictment include actress
Felicity Huff man from
“Desperate Housewives,” major
asset management executives,
investment bankers and lawyers.
8 The scheme was originally
discovered through an
unrelated case in which
a company executive being
investigated for securities fraud
exposed Singer.
9 Singer cooperated with the
FBI and wore a wire in order
to implicate others in the
indictment.
10 Schools involved in the
controversy include USC,
Yale, Stanford, Georgetown,
Boston University, Northeastern,
UCLA, the University of Texas at
Austin, and Wake Forest.
Image via Pixabay
10 most interesting
facts about
the college
admissions scandal
Photo via Entertainment Tonight
QNS.COM
18 SPRING 2019
/QNS.COM