The recent scandal involving numerous parents, college coaches, and various admissions-process cheaters has generated much discussion and consternation in the past few weeks. Rightly so. In the three weeks since the scandal broke, news reports have uncovered an unseemly tangle of corruption and entitlement. It’s enough to turn even the most fervent optimist into a cynic.

 

For me, my disgust with those involved hinges on how unnecessary all of their actions really were. What is truly at stake for these families? All of the parents who bribed coaches or arranged to have their children’s test scores changed were very well off. Their kids all had the means and the educational background to attend excellent colleges and universities already. But the parents wanted to achieve even “better” results in the process and ensure that their sons or daughters enrolled at even more elite places. In other words, it wasn’t good enough for their children to go to the State University or “second-tier” Liberal Arts College; instead, they had to cheat their way into the most elite universities in the country. For what? Surely their kids were advantaged enough to do well in life without the extra advantage that Harvard, Yale, or USC might bring.

 

But some competitive parents can truly lose all common sense when it comes to finding ways to give their kids advantages, especially if they already perceive that the playing field is unfair or that the process is “rigged” anyway. These same parents no doubt lamented that other students were “given” better college choices because they were on the crew team or scored a few points more on the SAT or benefitted through affirmative action policies. They couldn’t stand to see their own children lose out in the hyper-competitive college process.

 

Going forward, of course college admissions offices are going to scrutinize their processes more than before. While no one who actually works in a college admissions office was implicated in these schemes—indeed, they were duped in ways that must make them as outraged as anyone—they will bear the brunt of the burden of addressing the problems that this scandal uncovered. The reputations of the universities implicated will be tarnished—and let’s remember that elite universities bank on their reputations to a large extent. News reports from this week indicate that more charges may follow, and I imagine there are other parents and coaches nervously wondering if they will be indicted. In other words, the ripple effect of this has not yet subsided.

 

I am more interested in what we can learn from this scandal and how we as a society might begin to shift our perspective on how aspects of college admissions are inherently inequitable. We know that legacies, test scores, and athletic recruitment come into play at every college, and it is reasonable that these factors would be considered. After all, every college is a business as well, and they rely on enthusiastic alums and successful sports teams to help them thrive. But these same factors can lead to unscrupulous people “playing the system” and/or perpetuate long-standing access that tends to favor certain portions of the population. We know, for example, “Forty-two percent of private institutions and 6 percent of public institutions consider legacy status as a factor in admissions, according to a 2018 survey of admissions directors by Inside Higher Ed.” Is this simply a way to maintain the status quo rather than reflect a true meritocracy?

 

And test scores still play an outsized role in college admission despite numerous studies showing that standardized testing has biases that disadvantage certain students of color and/or socio-economically disadvantaged students who may not have access to high-performing schools or test prep. More institutions have become test-optional as a result, with the University of Denver recently joining the group, but as long as standardized testing exists, we will have people who try to cheat on them.

 

If there is a positive outcome to this morally reprehensible behavior, it’s that a brighter spotlight has been shone on some of the negative realities within college admissions. Let’s hope that everyone who has a role to play will take a good look at their own practices.