Written Dana Low
Last week news broke of the largest college admissions scam in history where over 50 people were indicted and charged on counts of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Among these 50 people are wealthy parents, who are employed as Hollywood actresses, CEO’s, and a fashion designer. As well as college test administers, Division I college athletic coaches, and the organizer of it all William Rick Singer. His company, The Key, allegedly helped prepare wealthy students for college admissions and college exams. However, as discovered, he instead would secure a student’s admission in one of two ways: by bribing the test proctors to correct the student’s answers to the exact score he specified or by bribing college administrators and coaches to designate the students as athletic recruits. Both of which would guarantee the student admission to their chosen university and in turn left the students of America rejected from schools they spent years working towards.
This scam is not only a disappointment for the future of college admissions but for every student who earned their merit and was rejected on behalf of the people who were able to bypass university standards. While there is a $5 million class-action lawsuit against all involved schools, the time and effort put into an entire high school career is something that can never be repaid. Andrew Lelling is the US attorney for Massachusetts and on the topic he said, “There can be no separate college admission system for the wealthy, and I'll add that there will not be a separate criminal justice system either.” This statement gives hope that things will be sorted out, and immense action will be taken to combat situations like this in the future.According to the New York Times, elite college turn away up to 95% of their applicants. This is monumental considering that can account for US as well as international students. The effect this has on the economy will be tremendous as well. Many colleges are need-blind during the admissions process, which means a student’s financial standing is not taken into account when deciding whether they are accepted or denied. However, there are many colleges who claim to be need-blind that were among the top schools involved in this scam. These schools include: Yale University, Georgetown University, Stanford University and the University of Southern California (USC) and more. This can cause a distrust in the admissions system and may prevent students from applying to these heavily sought after schools in the future. While admissions to top schools are never guaranteed, we can hope that there will be a system in place to prevent this issue in the future.
Works Cited
Balingit, Moriah, et al. “The People Charged in College Admissions Scandal Operation Varsity Blues.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Mar. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/actors-designers-distillery-owners-here-are-some-of-those-charged-in-the-college-admissions-scheme/2019/03/12/3c2f5316-4500-11e9-8aab-95b8d80a1e4f_story.html?utm_term=.17645927bbb7.Berler, Nina. “Has the Economy Affected College Admissions Offices?” Unigo, www.unigo.com/admissions-advice/has-the-economy-affected-college-admissions-offices/70/1.
“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students.” College Search & Scholarships: College Decision Resources, www.cappex.com/articles/match-fit/need-blind-admission-colleges.
Levenson, Eric. “Wealthy Parents, Actresses, Coaches, among Those Charged in Massive College Cheating Admission Scandal, Federal Prosecutors Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Mar. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/03/12/us/college-admission-cheating-scheme/index.html.
Medina, Jennifer, and Katie Benner. “Actresses and Business Leaders Charged in College Admissions Bribery Scandal.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/us/college-admissions-cheating-scandal.html.
Newburger, Emma. “USC Blocks Students Embroiled in Admissions Scandal from Registering for Classes.” CNBC, CNBC, 19 Mar. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/03/19/usc-blocks-students-in-admissions-scandal-from-class-registration.html.
Perez-Pena, Richard. “Best, Brightest and Rejected: Elite Colleges Turn Away Up to 95%.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/led-by-stanfords-5-top-colleges-acceptance-rates-hit-new-lows.html.
I am not surprised that rich people get into colleges by paying in. I am surprised that so many people think that this is new news because I'm sure that I have seen numerous comedy sketches that imply the same thing. Oftentimes I think colleges will accept richer students so that in the future they will receive donations from them in the future.
ReplyDelete-Kaustav Saha
DeleteIt’s no surprise that the wealthy people in this scam felt entitled to get whatever they wanted with money, but there are a few things that I don’t understand and that were clearly not thought out. First, if your child isn’t smart enough to get into college on their own, and all they want is the experience, why bribe an ivy league school? For the reputation? Because if the child isn’t smart enough to get accepted, how are they expected to keep up with the curriculum? Secondly, the schools and coaches that accepted these bribes must not have thought about the costs and consequences for when they inevitably got caught. Not only do they have to pay back the money they received unethically, but they also have to deal with lawsuits from students that were rejected because a celebrity’s child might have took their spot.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many moving parts and double standards here that it is almost hard to see the real issues here. This story has honestly made me so upset recently and I have somehow felt cheated. And this certainly will affect the economy in the future because if the trust in the education has been declining, it will take a nosedive now. Colleges make a lot of money based on the fact the 95% of students they turned away in the application process still had to pay anywhere from $50-$100 to apply but if students stop applying as much as they used to because of this scandal and the belief that they won't get in, then colleges will lose a lot of that money. In turn, their rates of acceptance will increase which will make them less prestigious which decrease the amount of funding and donations they receive which in turn will decrease the quality of education for the students attending. It is a long web but the effects are substantial. This alone has clear ethical issues that we need to address because if even the most QUALIFIED and ABLE parents can't get their children into the college of their dreams, how the first generation, marginalized students ever expected to have a shot. This especially will affect the quality of the workforce then too and who is getting an education and who isn't. In the end, it is our education system that needs to change so that both students and parents don't have to take such drastic measures just to be afforded a good education.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the kids who get bribed into these ranked universities do with keeping up with their classes. Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin's daughter was involved in the scam seemed to always be partying and filming for her Youtube channel. Maybe she got tutors or others students to help, but I wonder how many of them would have actually graduated. It also was very surprising to hear that so much money was put into this scam. I hope that the people involved realize their money could have went to much better places.
ReplyDeleteGreat column! I think it's incredibly interesting how far people will go to get their kids into a school they want. I wasn't very surprised to see that this happened considering shady things happening coming from people in Hollywood with money. Most of all, I feel bad for students who were rejected that put together a solid college application, but just didn't have 500k sitting around in their house that they could bribe someone to make them look better. I think legal action is going to be taken and this will be sorted out, but it will be in the back of everyone's minds the next time they apply to some of these universities in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteThis breach of fairness and objectivity in the college admissions process should be very unsettling to everyone, regardless of whether they are a current college applicant. I believe that this case of college admissions fraud is just the tip of the iceberg. These are just the schools that got caught; What about all the other schools that have similar problems and haven't been caught? College degrees, especially from top schools have incredible value. Admissions fraud compromises this entire system and people who shouldn't have ever been accepted to a top school may end up getting a degree from that school and the benefits along with it. This negatively impacts employers because they may end up hiring employees that don't really have the skills or intelligence that their degree implies. Wouldn't this be similar to lying on your resume considering these students didn't get into these school's based on their own merit? I think that lawsuits against these schools are a great step to expose other colleges and end this corrupt practice altogether.
ReplyDeleteI think it was very surprising to hear this news when it first came out. I just don't really understand why all of these rich people need to cheat their way into college when they could put the time and effort into their education just like everyone else. Yeah, the kids may not be smart enough, but then they shouldn't be bribing their way into colleges where they know that they will not preform to academic standards. It's just really frustrating to me that kids with wealthy parents are able to get into top colleges in the nation and kids who genuinely try their hardest and have the grades to get in get rejected. It's simply just not fair.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely sad that even with all this money and opportunities those children have by being born into a wealthy family. They also have to cheat to get into college. They can hire the best of the best tutors, pay for their college and the students never have to lift a finger. Like you said this will have a big economic impact on the colleges involved. College is expensive and they really need that admission money. Even a small decrease in students going to a college could hurt them badly. It will be very interesting to see how deep the scandal really is and if these wealthy parents get punished in the same way as poor parents would be.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, this was not the most surprising story to come out. For centuries, people have been abusing their own wealth to gain advantages in life. There is an entire book about it called "The Price of Admission" in the case of paying your way through college instead of merit. However, while the story was not surprising to me, it certainly disheartens me, as I know so many students that have worked extremely hard for everything they have, but are overshadowed by kids who can simply pay money to get ten times further. I think this could actually have an impact on the amount of students attending schools like USC and others that were bribed in this case. By not as many people going to colleges, this will lower the college's funding and production possibility as the population will decline. Their funding from the government will probably falter as well due to the scandal alone. However, I do not feel bad in the slightest, as the school should know the consequences of letting in kids that they should not have. Lastly, in my opinion, I think that these kids should immediately take the ACT or SAT once more, and go into the college that their merits can get them into. In addition, the parents should pay a fine, and have all of that money go towards underprivileged kids that need help paying for college.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though this, while disappointing, is not at all shocking--we've known for years that our legal system is corrupt, in which the rich suffer lesser consequences than the poor--so the fact that bribes have been brought into college admissions is not surprising. What I find to be particularly bothersome, however, are the people who continue to bash high achieving minority students and attribute their accomplishments of getting into top colleges to "they add diversity to the campus," or, claim, "if I wasn't white I would've gotten in," when underachieving students were admitted to top colleges simply because their parents could afford to bribe their way in. It's rather disgusting that the upper elite believe that they are more entitled to a prestigious education because of their money, and speaks a lot to the article read in class the other day about how kids aren't growing up due to their "snowplow parents." Because this has such a presence in the public eye, I hope that bribes made in court are avoided, and justice can actually be served.
ReplyDeleteThis collage scam sucks, because there are kids out there, that there future depends on getting it and getting higher education, but with a scandal like this going on it is hard for them to get into these colleges. Instead of doing the right thing people choses to take the easy way out of everything and cheat their way in. For the kids that did everything far, they are force with picking secondary schools that might not be as good as there first choice, because of these people.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't realize this news was as big of an issue as it was until recently. Don't get me wrong, I'm not for bribing colleges to accept students, far from it. In fact, I think it's kind of counter intuitive, if parents to bribe colleges to accept students into their colleges, wouldn't their children do worse in college? If you're stuck in a class, or environment where everybody is at a higher level than you, you won't be able to learn a thing, so in reality, parents are bribing colleges to not teach their students correctly. I couldn't care less about the parents and students, but this definitely lowers the standard for getting into a good college. Why study when you can just pay the toll? (Assuming you're part of a rich family.) If this keeps up, a variety of businesses will suffer from having workers with a lack of good education when it's needed for their jobs. And colleges partaking in this kind of activity is also infuriating. I Hope this stops soon.
ReplyDeleteWhen the news first broke out, the idea that this incident really happened caused more of a shock than the bribe itself as this is usually a comedy sketch topic and because the now infamous "Aunt Becky" committed the crime. As for the children of the bribing parents, if their parents can afford to bribe the school for acceptance, what stops them from paying other students to do their assignments and assessments? The overlooked problem seems to be the effect this scandal will have on the colleges. While the colleges themselves will suffer for a couple of years, their revenue will be back up because everyone needs a good degree from the recent demand for higher education. A college education, especially from notable colleges has almost become an inelastic good (the college education itself - not the college). So are the colleges themselves getting enough of a consequence or is it just a slap on the wrist? While "Aunt Becky" is getting a lot of heat for the scandal, shouldn't USC face a bigger consequence than a lawsuit? Shouldn't more preventative measures be taken? As said by the article, these corrupt colleges do make a large revenue just from the number of applicants they get each year.Paying off a large loan will not be as large of an issue on their part.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it isn't a recent issue, it was still stunning to hear about it. There were many factors not considered throughout the perpetuation of this scam, such as the students' abilities to succeed in the college level courses. Though there is a chance that the student's may succeed given the correct resources, it is highly unlikely if their parents had to bribe their way through. These actions also have major impacts on the future lives of the students as well. Though one of the main issues that has come to light throughout this scandal has been the college application process, there is also the issue of the affected growth of the students whose parents used unlawful methods to get their children into reputable colleges. I remember reading an article about lawnmower parents a couple days ago in economics. This is a prime example of parents trying to remove all obstacles in the way of their children's success. In doing so, these parents have become an obstacle themselves. The children of the parents involved in this scandal have been negatively influenced to believe that not only are they entitled to what they wants, but they are entitled due to their wealth and social standing. These students, had they attended the colleges, would have struggled greatly with the rigor of the curriculum, but will also have issues in the future when they experience obstacles that their parents cannot help with.
ReplyDeleteThis is quite disappointing as people where literally buying their way into schools and programs. Not only that, but some of these schools have high standards such as Ivy Leagues, and I can't imagine being an actual qualified applicant turned away because a different student's parents have such a great source of income to use to bribe. This is especially shocking because these parents could easily afford to actually make their child intelligent or a talented athlete by getting private tutoring, coaching, etc. However, they chose the risky route of bribing colleges which is not only against the law, but in result of getting caught is an even worse outcome for their children. These kids are likely so embarrassed by their parents' cop out. It is good this whole scamming situation came to an end, however it makes me wonder how many people do this on the daily. If this happens with this guy running all of these scams, it definitely is occurring behind the scenes in college admissions, in government, etc. It is terrifying to know "established" institutions likely have more things like this going on behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteThis whole situation is very frustrating. College admissions is already stressful enough, and knowing that there are potentially people who are cheating the system makes it even more worrisome. This is not ethical and should not be a thing that happens. It is interesting to me that people feel satisfied after breaking the rules and cheating the system. This is similar to the free riders that we learned about in micro. Those who don't pay for something but are rewarded anyways never truly accomplish anything in life. Not only are you cheating others, but also yourself. Now Lori Loughlin's children will have limited opportunities in the work force and will not be able to establish their credibility. Knowing this, jobs could be taken away from those who are perfectly capable and can, ultimately,cause the unemployment rate to increase. There are many problems with applying to college, and now this is something we have to consider.
ReplyDeleteThis college scam stinks, because there are kids out there, that there future depends on getting it and getting higher education, but with a scandal like this going on it is hard for them to get into these colleges. Instead of doing the right thing people chose to take the easy way out of everything and cheat their way in. For the kids that did everything far, they are force with picking secondary schools that might not be as good as there first choice, because of these people.
ReplyDeleteCollege scams like these I feel like have been occurring over many years. However, this is the first time that it's been so publicized about how and who this involved. But I don't get it, I'm obviously not a parent however in my opinion why would you pay for your child to get into a college. Yes they're your kid and you want the best for them but at the expense of paying millions of dollars. Also, another part that I don't understand is why would pay that much to get your child into the school just for the partying experience and not actually to further their education. There's a ton of different things that go into this story and make it immoral and to be honest you won't be able to know what they were thinking unless you were in their perspective.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote that the attorney said about how celebrities should not be treated any differently just because they have more money. Unfortunately, this is almost inevitable but I agree that it is not fair to students who applied to these colleges and actually deserved the spot. That being said, it makes me curious to know if the children of the celebrities knew that their parents paid the money to get them in. I’m sure that this scandal brought down the application rates of students for this upcoming year which will throw off the annual revenue that the college is making.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile this news was definitely disappointing to hear, I honestly wasn't super surprised. We live in a world where everything is a business and someone is always looking to get one step ahead. We have also known that college admissions boards are not always what they seem. It doesn't make too much sense to me as to why you would bribe your way into a college that you couldn't get in in the first place. How are you going to be able to keep up with the curriculum when they have deemed you as an unfit student for that school? This sparks another question: How well do the students actually do? Because if they are failing and eventually have to drop, that would give the college a higher drop out rate, which I would assume is NOT ideal. Which is why they turned away the applicant in the first place! I wonder if there will be anything put in place to try to avoid letting this happen again in the future.
ReplyDelete