College Scandal: Crossing the Line of Wealth and Advantage

Nikki Farmer

Recently, 33 wealthy parents in the U.S. were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud; ultimately, the parents were “buying” their children into college. Many of the students who were accepted into very competitive colleges did not even have accurate credentials. This behavior is not acceptable at all. The reason why is because even though famous actors or celebrities have a lot of money, this privilege does not mean that they have a “free pass” to break the law and get what they want.

 

Not only did these parents bribe the colleges with money, lie about their children’s activities and involvement in the community, but also lied about how their teenager had a learning disability so that the student could take the test with a proctor. Allegedly, the college administrators were fully aware of this situation and the students had no idea this activity was going on.  Also, the children of these parents stated that they did not even know that their parents were changing their college application, to make them look more involved in the community/sports.

 

Colleges have become so competitive that even the rich and famous have to worry about their teenagers getting into college. Although colleges are very competitive, this still does not make this scandal moral at all. The fact that these wealthy parents bought their children into college by bribing the college with money, just proves how self-centered and self-glorifying they are. Wealthy families care about their reputation.

 

In my opinion, I am not surprised that the wealthy made these unlawful and unethical decisions to cheat the system. Based on this story, proves how in the United States people who are more wealthy are given more advantages towards education and other resources for their future. These families took advantage of their status, and definitely crossed the line not only unethically but illegally. This shows how our society has become a very selfish society, and how wealthy people are willing to give up their money to make their reputation look better.