Parents accused of paying millions to get their children into elite US colleges

Harvard university's students

Have your parents given you a hand at school to help you get good grades? How about forking out $6.5 million to get you into the country's best universities?

US law enforcement agencies have lifted the lid on a massive college admissions scandal that takes in some major high-flyers. They've charged 50 people, and 33 of those are parents of would-be college students.

"These parents were the catalogue of wealth and privilege," US Attorney Andrew Lelling said.
Under the scam, parents would pay college admissions counsellor William Rick Singer via a fake charity.

Singer would then set up a private room for the student's college admissions exams, and, in some cases, pay off supervisors to change incorrect answers on test papers.

The cash was also used to bribe coaches to get students into college on sports scholarships, even if that kid had never participated in that sport.

"In return for bribes, these coaches agreed to pretend that certain applicants were recruited, competitive athletes," Mr Lelling said.

Parents paid anywhere from US$100,000 to US$6.5 million to get their kids into elite education institutions, Mr Lelling said.
Because parents paid into a charity, they then claimed that money back on tax.

"[This is] the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth, combined with fraud," Mr Lelling said.

"There can be no separate college admittance system for the wealthy, and I will add there will be no separate criminal justice system either."
Social media influencer's mum accused
The two actresses accused of taking part in the scam are Full House star Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman from Desperate Housewives.

Loughlin's daughter, Olivia Jade, is a social media influencer with nearly two million YouTube followers.
Last year, she was slammed for saying she was only at college for the parties.

"I do want the experience of game days, partying - I don't really care about school," she said in her video blog.

She implied that her school work would take a backseat to her influencer work.

"I don't know how much of school I'm going to attend. I'm going to go in and talk to my deans and everyone and see if I can balance it all."

Fans were unhappy with those comments, pointing out that Olivia Jade was privileged to go to a good college and that she sounded ungrateful for the opportunity.

The 19-year-old issued an apology shortly afterwards, saying she was disappointed in herself.

'Honest, talented students rejected'
Wealthy parents have long used their influence to get their kids into elite US institutions.

So-called legacy students, whose parents or grandparents went to that institution, often have lower entry scores than other students.

They also make donations to their old schools in order to give their children a better chance of admission.

But Mr Lelling said this scam went much further than that.

"For every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student is rejected," Mr Lelling said.

"We're not talking about donating a building so that a school's more likely to take your son or daughter. We're talking about deception and fraud."