But Operation Varsity Blues, the racketeering investigation that led to charges against 50 people, is one of the most audacious schemes yet: Prosecutors say proctors were bribed to fake scores, test takers were hired to impersonate students and at least one family was encouraged to falsely claim their son had a disability. [Read more on the Justice Department’s largest ever college admissions prosecution.] The SAT and ACT are not aptitude or IQ tests. They are intended to assess how well students have mastered standard high school reading and math concepts. Though tutoring companies often brag about how much they can boost scores, there is no clear consensus on how much test preparation actually changes the final result, or whether test prep warps the results or merely demonstrates a student’s diligence. Dennis Yim, the director of academics at Kaplan, one of the country’s largest test prep companies, said prep wasn’t to blame for an unequal system. “Studying for these tests isn’t about doing something that is circumventing the test, it’s about learning the content,” he said. Kaplan now livestreams some prep sessions for free, and some school districts provide free prep courses. In 2017, the College Board, which administers the SAT, and Khan Academy, an education app, announced that students who used a free service saw gains on their scores. But for most families, drilling for the exams remains an expensive proposition, ranging from $299 for a self-guided study course at Kaplan to hundreds of dollars an hour for the priciest private tutors. The strongest predictor of a student’s score “is affluence of parents and education of parents,” said Steve Syverson, a vice chancellor for enrollment at the University of Washington Bothell. The anxiety surrounding the tests, Mr. Syverson said, is premised on the myth that there are only a few schools worth fighting — and even cheating — for.<doc-sep>Hide Transcript Show Transcript FEDERAL COURT TODAY. KCRA 3’S VICKI GONZALEZ EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENED. VICKI: BOTH DEFENDANTS ARE LONGTIME FOLSOM RESIDENTS. FEDERAL PROSECUTORS SAY THEY WILLINGLY TOOK PART IN A MULTI MILLION DOLLAR BRIBERY SCHEME FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS. 69-YEAR-OLD STEVEN MASERA AND 32-YEAR-OLD MIKAELA SANFORD. FEDERAL PROSECUTORS NAMING THE FOLSOM RESIDENTS AS PLAYERS IN THE LARGEST COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF THE AGENCY. ACCORDING TO THE COMPLAINT, BOTH WORKED FOR THE KEY WORLDWIDE, AN ADMISSIONS CONSULTING COMPANY, UNDER WILLIAM RICK SINGER. >> BETWEEN ROUGHLY 2011 AND 2018, WEALTHY PARENTS PAID SINGER ABOUT $25 MILLION IN TOTAL TO GUARANTEE THEIR CHILD’S ADMISSION TO ELITE SCHOOLS, INCLUDING YALE, GEORGETOWN, STANFORD, THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, UCLA, AND WAKE FOREST. VICKI: SANFORD IS CHARGED WITH TAKING ONLINE CLASSES IN PLACE OF SOME STUDENTS AND FABRICATING ATHLETIC PROFILES SO APPLICANTS APPEARED TO BE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ATHLETES, WHEN IN FACT THEY WERE NOT. >> IN MANY INSTANCES, SINGER HELPED PARENTS TAKE STAGED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEIR CHILDREN ENGAGED IN PARTICULAR SPORTS. OTHER TIMES, SINGER AND HIS ASSOCIATES WOULD USE STOCK PHOTOS THEY PULLED FROM THE INTERNET, SOMETIMES PHOTOSHOPPING THE FACE OF THE CHILD ONTO THE PICTURE OF THE ATHLETE AND SUBMITTING IT IN SUPPORT OF THE APPLICATIONS FOR THESE CHILDREN TO ELITE SCHOOLS. VICKI: WHILE MASERA IS CHARGED WITH SENDING BRIBERY PAYMENTS, AND MASKING THEM AS CHARITABLE DONATIONS. >> THIS ENABLED THE PARENTS NOT ONLY TO MASK THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PAYMENT, BUT ALSO TAKE THE TAX WRITE OFF AT THE END OF THE YEAR. KELLY: BOTH MAS Advertisement College bribery scandal has Northern California roots Sacramento man at center of biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by U.S. Justice Department Share Shares Copy Link Copy A Sacramento man is at the center of a college admissions scheme that has resulted in charges against dozens of people. Authorities called it the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department. As part of the scheme, wealthy parents bribed college coaches and others to get their children into some of the country’s most elite schools, federal prosecutors said. The bribes were orchestrated by William “Rick” Singer, an admissions consultant who is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of justice, according to federal court documents. Prosecutors said Singer pleaded guilty to all counts and was released on a $500,000 unsecured bond. His sentencing is scheduled for June 19. Singer, 59, is a resident of both Sacramento and Newport Beach. Singer was the owner of Edge College and Career Network, a for-profit college counseling business. He also served as CEO of Key Worldwide Foundation, a Newport Beach-based nonprofit corporation that was created “as a purported charity,” an unsealed federal document reads. | MORE | Read the criminal complaint against William SingerProsecutors allege that Singer and others carried out the racketeering conspiracy by facilitating cheating on SAT and ACT exams in exchange for bribes by arranging for or allowing a third party to take the exams instead of the actual students. Parents typically paid between $15,000 and $75,000 per test. Parents also allegedly paid Singer to bribe coaches and administrators to label their children as recruited athletes. Investigators say the bribes were disguised as charitable donations. The scam took place between 2011 and September of last year. "These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in announcing the $25 million bribery case, code-named Operation Varsity Blues. At least nine athletic coaches and 33 parents, many of them prominent in law, finance or business, were among those charged in the investigation.Singer isn’t the only person with Sacramento-area ties implicated in the scam. Steven Masera, 69, and Mikaela Sanford, 32, are both facing charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Masera is a Folsom resident, and until December 2017, he worked as an accountant and financial officer for Edge College and Career Network and Key Worldwide Foundation. Sanford, of Sacramento, was employed in “various capacities” for the two entities, according to a federal indictment.The complaint alleges Sanford took part in fabricating athletic “profiles” and other documents so applicants appeared to be highly successful athletes when, in fact, they were not.“In many instances, Singer helped parents take staged photographs of their children engaged in particular sports,” Lelling said. “In other instances, Singer and his associates would take stock photos from the internet -- sometimes photoshopping the face of the child onto the picture of the athlete -- and submit in support of the application for these children to elite schools.”The complaint also said, “Sanford also took online classes in place of some students, so that students could submit the grades Sanford earned in their names, as part of their application packages. "Masera is accused of facilitating bribery payments for SAT and ACT exams, as well as masking the payments made by parents as charitable donations through fraudulent invoices. “This enabled the parents not only to mask the true nature of the payment, but also take the tax write-off at the end of the year,” Lelling said. Neither Masera nor Sanford has a criminal record. A federal judge released Masera and Sanford on a $100,000 and $50,000 unsecured bond, respectively, until their next court appearance in Boston on March 25. | RELATED | List of all those facing chargesThe Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.<doc-sep>
Dozens of people are facing federal charges in connection with a nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal involving several prominent colleges and former members of some of their athletic programs. Prominent business owners along with actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are listed as defendants in the alleged scam. They are facing charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. A federal affidavit accuses Huffman of making a charitable contribution of $15,000 to a California-based company that provided college counseling and preparation. Huffman, the records say, made the donation to the company “on behalf or her oldest daughter.” Based on the court documents, it does not appear the individual schools were involved in the alleged scam, even though several college coaches are listed. Coaches from Georgetown University, University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles and Wake Forest University are all indicted. One former Georgetown University tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, is listed as a defendant. He was a resident of Maryland and Falmouth, Massachusetts, according to the federal indictment. Records on file in court say several defendants are facing either racketeering or mail fraud charges. Those involved are accused of “facilitating cheating on the ACT and SAT exams in exchange for bribes,” according to the federal records. A third party was taking exams for students or replacing students’ responses in exams so students could get into colleges, records said. Records show defendants are facing charges in various federal courts across the country including Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, New York and Florida.