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Actresses and Business Leaders Charged in College Admissions Bribery Scandal
Federal prosecutors charged dozens of people on Tuesday in a major college admission scandal that involved wealthy parents, including Hollywood celebrities and prominent business leaders, paying bribes to get their children into elite American universities.
Thirty-three parents were charged in the case. Also implicated were top college coaches, who were accused of accepting millions of dollars to help admit students to Wake Forest, Yale, Stanford, the University of Southern California and other schools, regardless of their academic or sports ability, officials said. Along with the Hollywood stars Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, those charged included prominent business leaders, a fashion designer and a top lawyer, officials said.
The case unveiled Tuesday was stunning in its breadth and audacity. It was the Justice Department's largest ever college admissions prosecution, a sprawling investigation that involved 200 agents nationwide and resulted in charges against 50 people in six states. The charges also underscored how college admissions have become so cutthroat and competitive that some have sought to break the rules. The authorities say the parents of some of the nation's wealthiest and most privileged students sought to buy spots for their children at top universities, not only cheating the system, but potentially cheating other hard-working students out of a chance at a college education.
(Score: 2) by pipedwho on Wednesday March 13 2019, @06:38PM
Getting in used to be about paying up. If you couldn’t pay up, you got in on a scholarship of some sort so you didn’t have to pay. Nothing wrong with this. Here in Australia, you can pay full fare (which is what all the ‘foreign admissions’ pay), but if you want the course to be subsidised, then you need to get in on academic merit (and athletic ability is not in any way academic merit).
However, once in doesn’t mean you’ll graduate if you’re not smart enough to pass the exams (oral or written). Although with the quality of some graduates you might think otherwise.
So unless these ‘cheats’ were somehow defrauding the public or university to receive undeserved benefits, then I don’t see how this is remotely a problem. Definitely not one worth bringing in the goons.
The rich elites are also more like to afford private tutors and resources that assist the learning process. Some of this rubs off on their non-elite peers. I had a rich friend who I helped out a lot, but he also taught me quite a few interesting things. Not to mention that we a had a little group who worked well together and pushed each other to really understand the material. He graduated out of merit, because he enjoyed the subject.