A recent scandal involving two actresses highlights the gripping admissions corruption at a college in Southern California. Lori Loughlin, of Full House, and Felicity Huffman, of Desperate Housewives, have both emerged in a scandal with the University of Southern California. Both women face federal charges after giving money to college administrators, coaches, and the CEO of a college career network to falsify records concerning their children’s transcripts. Loughlin who has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud faces these charges after laundering money to fabricate their daughter’s involvement in a sports team. Huffman faces similar charges after paying a test proctor an estimated $15,000 for her daughter to have unlimited time to take her SAT test.

“It’s unfair to some people because some people have more money to spend and are willing to spend that money trying to beat someone who is hardworking even though in the end you can’t beat someone who is hardworking,” senior, Andrey Cuevas-Andreev, said.

The calculative scandal led to the indictment of 50 men and women who work as coaches, test proctors or are the parents of students. The following were arrested on charges of racketeering conspiracy, and racketeering forfeiture allegations. Racketeering occurs when money is illegally obtained for a service which often happens repetitively. CEO of Edge College Career Network, William “Rick” Singer, has been dubbed the mastermind of the scandal and has also been charged with racketeering and an array of other charges such as money laundering.

“It’s not fair to people who are not as privileged as them, because people who would like to go to the college maybe someone took their spot. They’re going to find out very easily whether the person deserves to be in the position they’re in so they can do whatever they want to get accepted into their university but if they were not academically well enough to get in it’ll show.” Senior, Elton Bello, said.

Other indictments include proctors who marked students with disabilities so they would have more time to take proctored exams. The same involvement is noted by coaches who forged records about student involvement in sports activities to booster their transcripts.

“I think it’s really insane. I don’t know if shocked is the right word but you know it’s very unfair- the fact that someone can fake or cheat, compared to someone else like me who is trying hard to get stuff done and doing it legitimately,” Cuevas-Andreev, said.

Students who applied to the University of Southern California and were rejected wonder if their applications were even considered. After the recent scandal was uncovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation some students have considered that enrollment was not offered to them because students who paid proctors and coaches had a leading advantage compared to them.

“I applied I believe in December, it’s kind of annoying because I think part of the reason I didn’t get in was because of my test scores, like my grades are good but I’m not an amazing test taker so it sucks to know that people were in the same boat but paid their way in,” senior, Brianna Navarro, said.

While having a competitive edge over other students poses several advantages, forging documents to receive this edge can leave others devastated that their application was dismissed as a result of the fraud. Students who are currently applying to colleges may fear receiving a letter of rejection because of these types of scandals. Students may also not apply to certain schools feeling that their skills will not be noticed fully.

“They’re just ruining their dreams some people spend a lot of time so they can get into that one university and if they found out this person is cheating their way into it and they don’t deserve it, it’s just heartbreaking.” Bello, states.