Celebrities wept in court. Coaches lost their jobs. Elite universities saw their reputations stained. And nearly four years later, the mastermind of the was sentenced this month to more than three years in prison.
But thereB次元官网网址檚 little belief the college bribery scandal has stirred significant change in the admissions landscape. Some schools tweaked rules to prevent the most flagrant types of misconduct, but the outsize roles of wealth, class and race B次元官网网址� which were thrust into public view in shocking plainness B次元官网网址� loom as large as ever.
College admissions leaders say the case is an anomaly. Corrupt athletics officials abused holes in the system, they argue, but no college admissions officers were accused. Still, critics say the case revealed deeper, more troubling imbalances.
B次元官网网址淧rivilege is just really baked into the system in many ways,B次元官网网址� said Julie Park, who studies college admissions and racial equity at the University of Maryland. B次元官网网址淎t the end of the day, thereB次元官网网址檚 disproportionate representation of the 1% at any private college.B次元官网网址�
The scheme itself was brazen, with rich parents paying to get their children accepted to selective universities as fake athletes. It drew attention to the advantages those families already had, including tutors and private consultants. It also highlighted , with edges given to the relatives of donors and alumni.
In court, some of the accused parents argued their alleged bribes were no different from donations colleges routinely accept from relatives of prospective students. Records revealed from the University of Southern California showed lists detailing scores of B次元官网网址淰IPB次元官网网址� applicants, with notes such as B次元官网网址減otential donorB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址�1 mil pledge.B次元官网网址�
Among the parents sent to prison for participating in the scheme were B次元官网网址淔ull HouseB次元官网网址� actor , and B次元官网网址淒esperate HousewivesB次元官网网址� star .
When authorities announced the first charges in 2019, it left colleges across the U.S. scrambling to review their own admissions systems, especially where there was overlap with athletics programs. Schools added layers of scrutiny around recruiting, with a sharp eye on lower-profile sports targeted in the scheme, such as water polo and rowing.
Asked what has changed since then, the universities at the center of the scheme point to a flurry of policies that were adopted within a few months of the arrests.
An internal review at USC found an average of 12 students a year had been recruited for sports they didnB次元官网网址檛 end up playing. Some, but not all, were tied to the bribery scheme. The university blamed it on B次元官网网址渙ne or a small numberB次元官网网址� of sports officials who violated school policy and hid it from the admissions office.
Officials at USC said they started reviewing athletic recruits at multiple levels of administration, including by an office of athletics compliance, which also started verifying that recruits actually end up competing.
Yale University made similar changes after a womenB次元官网网址檚 soccer coach accepted $860,000 in bribes to get students admitted as part of the scheme. YaleB次元官网网址檚 athletic director started reviewing all proposed recruits, the school announced in 2019, and recruits that donB次元官网网址檛 end up on teams now face B次元官网网址渃lose scrutiny.B次元官网网址�
But in the big picture of YaleB次元官网网址檚 admissions, B次元官网网址渧ery little has changed,B次元官网网址� said Logan Roberts, a senior at the Ivy League school who came from a low-income family in upstate New York. The school denounced the scandal, he said, but ignored deeper problems that give wealthy students advantages in admissions.
On campus, he said, students from modest means are still far outnumbered by those who went to private schools with access to expensive tutors. Roberts and others have pressed the university to abandon policies that favor wealth, including preferences for the children of alumni, but so far Yale has resisted change.
B次元官网网址淲hen money and morality clash, money generally tends to win,B次元官网网址� said Roberts, 22.
Angel P茅rez was the head of admissions at Trinity College in Connecticut when the scandal broke. His school wasnB次元官网网址檛 implicated, but within minutes, his phone was buzzing with texts from colleagues. Could it happen here, they wondered? Trinity reviewed its policies and concluded they were sound.
Ultimately, it did little to change the industry, said P茅rez, who now leads NACAC, a national association of college admissions officials.
B次元官网网址淭he majority of institutions found that they had a really good process and that there wasnB次元官网网址檛 unethical behavior taking place,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his was a case of some bad actors who were framing themselves as college counselors.B次元官网网址�
Still, he said, the bribery case B次元官网网址� along with the countryB次元官网网址檚 racial reckoning and separate legal battles over affirmative action B次元官网网址� stirred debate about the fairness of legacy preferences and entrance exams.
B次元官网网址淚 think it just woke up the American public,B次元官网网址� he said.
After the Jan. 4 , authorities said their work led to reform. The FBI said colleges reached out asking how they could catch wrongdoing.
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said it revealed a B次元官网网址渟eparate college admissions process for the rich, powerful and entitled,B次元官网网址� but she also said it led to B次元官网网址渕eaningful changes.B次元官网网址� She suggested it may have contributed to more colleges making the SAT and ACT optional, a trend that started before the case but .
Others, however, argue that the scheme was only a symptom of a disease.
AmericaB次元官网网址檚 obsession with elite schools, combined with opaque admissions systems, has led to desperation among families seeking the best for their children, said Mark Sklarow, CEO of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, a nonprofit that represents private counselors who help in the admissions process.
Colleges help fuel the frenzy, he said, by boasting about their ever-narrowing acceptance rates, all while giving advantages to the well-connected.
B次元官网网址淐olleges created a system that was designed to reject more and more kids,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t became less and less clear who got in and who got rejected, and I think that led this generation of parents to say, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檒l do whatever it takes to get my kid in.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Closing bribery loopholes, he added, does little to make admissions more fair.
Ultimately, wealth and privilege play the same role in admissions that they did before the case, said Park, of the University of Maryland. So far she sees little real change, she said, with only a small number of schools agreeing to drop legacy preferences, for example.
B次元官网网址淭hings have the potential to change,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淏ut is it just going to be shifting chairs around on the Titanic? I donB次元官网网址檛 know.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擟ollin Binkley, The Associated Press
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