Over fifty people, and eight prestigious colleges (USC, UCLA, Stanford, Georgetown, Yale, Wake Forest, University of Texas at Austin and USD) were involved in the largest college admission scandal off all time. In a money driven society, institutions take bribes and donations from wealthy families in return for the admission of their child into the school. 

The mind behind the scandal was William Rick Singer, who was paid over 25 million dollars by wealthy families to help their kids get into top universities. He did this in two ways: Fraudulent standardized test scores, and contacting sports directors at the schools to make up faulty information about the students as athletes. Full house actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli were at the forefront of the scandal, as they cheated both of their daughters into USC, one of them claiming to “not really care about school.” The coach of the rowing team claimed that they wanted both daughters recruited for the team, which caused the school to admit them. Many of the universities, including USC, fired all the athletic directors involved in the scandal. USC is also planning to use the bribery money to give out scholarships to kids that need it. Other schools such as Georgetown and Yale are attempting to create a more equal and fair admission process as well.

This is not a new phenomena by any means, but this scandal has been a discouraging reminder for current students awaiting their admission at top universities, knowing that their hard work could be undermined by money. This is not the first scandal, and it most likely won’t be the last, but it proves that the admissions process is far from an equal playing field, and much like most aspects of life, money will get you ahead. Regardless of the massive social reaction that this scandal has gained, it’s unlikely that colleges will stop taking bribes and donations in return for admitting kids.