Operation Varsity Blues: Admissions scandal rocks at least eight US universities

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A scandal over how wealthy parents have - in effect - bought entrance into top US universities for their children, has had widespread fallout. Prosecutors say parents paid a total of 25 million dollars to a college admissions consultant over seven years, to get their teens accepted to the best schools. CGTN's June-wei Sum has more.

Cheating, bribery, racketeering, it sounds like a made-for-TV crime movie which is the 'day job' of one of the parents caught up in the college admissions scandal American actress Lori Loughlin.

She's just one of 33 wealthy and well-connected parents, charged with allegedly paying a total of $25 million for illegal services to get their children into top universities.

It all started with an unrelated investigation on Wall Street: Authorities looking into a securities fraud case last spring were tipped off to the college scam, by someone hoping for leniency.

Those involved are charged with getting college entrance exam scores bumped up, and faking their children's involvement in sports while college coaches were bribed, in turn, to seek out these students as recruits.

Top schools including the University of Southern California, Yale, Georgetown and Stanford have been caught up in the scandal. So far, the universities themselves blame rogue employees, rather than problems within the admissions process.

Students who got into these schools through the traditional route - seem more ambivalent.

MORGAN BAKER SOPHOMORE, YALE UNIVERSITY "I think this like this bribery scandal is really in, in the same vein as a lot of the other conversations that are happening around like access and privilege at elite universities, and what it takes to get here."

NICHOLAS SNASHALL-WOODHAMS PHD STUDENT, YALE UNIVERSITY "This whole thing where they also take donors' money to sort of let students in but I don't really think it's equivalent."

The criminal investigation is still unfolding, as is the debate over access to higher education. June-wei Sum, CGTN.