An investigation by the Los Angeles Times has uncovered a fraudulent admission scandal at the University of Southern California. Between 2008-2018, USC offered an ‘alternative path to admissions’ for the students of wealthy families who could make large donations. In exchange for the money, USC would list the student as a walk-on athlete.
If this song and dance feel familiar, the controversy is similar to the 2019 Varsity Blues scandal that also implicated USC. However, in this situation, the student-athletes involved actually played the sport they were listed as walk-on athletes for, just not at a highly competitive level. During the Varsity Blues court proceedings, USC denied that the walk-on system as a fundraising tool.
According to Inside Higher Ed, “thousands of internal records found that administrators often manipulated the admissions process to favor applicants from the families of business executives, real estate developers, sports team owners and others with deep pockets.”
While the overall acceptance rate at USC is about 10%, the acceptance rates for these walk-on student-athletes from wealthy families was much higher, estimated at 80-90%.
One student in particular was described by the L.A. Times as having mediocre grades, however, he was admitted as a walk-on golfer following a $3 million donation to the USC golf program by his father.
School officials told the L.A. Times investigators, “’This fraud involved a limited number of employees exclusively in athletics who are no longer with the university.’ Officials also said they added new safeguards in 2020 and ‘have learned from it in order to ensure it does not happen again.’”
