Celebrities, CEOs and wealthy parents have been charged for allegedly scheming students into elite colleges and universities including Yale, Georgetown, USC and UCLA.
The Justice Department said Tuesday that the crimes, which date back to 2011, involved cheating on entrance exams and bribing administrators and athletic coaches. Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are two of the actresses facing charges.
We get the latest.
We reached out to USC, which provided this statement:
“We are aware of the ongoing wide-ranging criminal investigation involving universities nationwide, including USC. USC has not been accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate fully with the government’s investigation.
We understand that the government believes that illegal activity was carried out by individuals who went to great lengths to conceal their actions from the university. USC is conducting an internal investigation and will take employment actions as appropriate.
USC is in the process of identifying any funds received by the university in connection with this alleged scheme. Additionally, the university is reviewing its admissions processes broadly to ensure that such actions do not occur going forward.”
Guests:
Laurie Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor
Matt Zapotosky, national security reporter covering the Justice Department at the Washington Post; he tweets
Eric Hoover, senior writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education; he tweets