BOSTON (WBAP/KLIF News) – The University of Texas at Austin is caught up in what federal officials are calling the largest college admissions cheating scam ever prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Fifty people, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, 33 parents and nine coaches are accused of paying an admissions consulting company in California $25 million from 2011 to February 2019 to secure their child’s admission to their desired school.
The elite schools include Georgetown University, University of Southern California, Wake Forest University and UT Austin.
At a press conference in Boston Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said that the colleges nor the students are targets in the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors said the parents paid anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million to guarantee their children’s admission.
Reaction was swift on social media once news of the scandal hit.
As a college scholarship administrator, I find it repulsive that people like @FelicityHuffman, @LoriLoughlin, @oliviajadee and others involved in this #CollegeCheatingScam would spots from more deserving students with their entitled actions! #Shameless
— Sue Ryan (@sueryan) March 12, 2019
Man, this #collegecheatingscam is nuts. I don’t even know what to say about it, except that the system’s been pretty busted for a long time.
— Julie Pafoofnic (@JPafoofnic) March 12, 2019
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Copyright 2019. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved. Associated Press contributed to this report.
