Spurned students sue US colleges over admissions scandal
- Lawsuits include one by Stanford students who say their degrees will be devalued and several by people whose ‘rights to a fair chance’ were stolen
Lawsuits began emerging on Wednesday, a day after federal prosecutors said a California company made about US$25 million from parents wanting spots for their children in top schools including Georgetown University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California and Yale University.
Fifty people, including 33 parents, have been criminally charged in the nation’s largest known college admissions scandal. The accused mastermind, William Singer, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.
In one civil lawsuit, Stanford students Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods said they were denied a fair opportunity to win admission to Yale and USC because of alleged racketeering, and said their degrees from Stanford will be devalued.
Singer and eight schools, including Stanford, were named as defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
Another lawsuit by Joshua Toy and his mother said he was denied college admission despite a 4.2 grade point average, and seeks US$500 billion of damages from 45 defendants for defrauding and inflicting emotional distress on everyone whose “rights to a fair chance” to enter college was stolen.
