Actually, a LOT of that is “legacy” admits (especially if the families have donated to the school), and is perfectly legal.

Yep.  Title IX has turned a lot of sports into a complete joke.

I'm amused by the hand wringing over the sports angle.

It dovetails perfectly with hiring athletes that have no business near an academic classroom.

Same thing, reversed.

Title IX means that many univerities have women’s teams, but often cannot find enough qualified women to fill their rosters.

They ain't gonna do that unless forced.

Most of the payments were bribes to individuals who worked at the universities, NOT to the university.

1. From what I can tell, most of the money was illegally paid to INDIVIDUALS, we were not operating with university sanction.  The universities didn't receive any money.  The individuals who took bribes and put them into their own pockets will likely be required to pay it back (whether as a result of criminal cases or civil cases, but also depending on statues of limitations and other legal bullshit like that).

2. I would be VERY surprised if these students were not expelled.  I would bet that most (if not all) will be.

3. How that is handled will likely depend on the specific policies of the universities in questions.  My guess is that once the students are expelled, the universities will WANT to nullify the credits - but exactly how that happens will depend on arcane bureaucratic rules.  

The full list:

William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice.

Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., the former head women’s soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud as well as honest services wire fraud.

John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy.

David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

The below were charged in an indictment with racketeering conspiracy:

Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT;

Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women’s tennis at Georgetown University;

William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women’s volleyball coach at Wake Forest University;

Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, Texas, president of a private tennis academy in Houston;

Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., the senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California;

Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California;

Ali Khoroshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California;

Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, Calif., former head coach of men’s soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles;

Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California; and

Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, Texas, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

The below defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud:

Michael Center, 54, of Austin Texas, head coach of men’s tennis at the University of Texas at Austin

The below were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, N.Y., the founder and chairman of a food and beverage packaging company;

Marcia Abbott, 59, of New York, N.Y.;

Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, Nev., the former senior executive of a resort and casino operator in Macau, China;

Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, Calif., an executive at a retail merchandising firm;

Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, Calif., an entrepreneur and investor;

Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., the CEO of a boutique marketing company;

Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of an international law firm based in New York City;

I-Hin “Joey” Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry;

Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm;

Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, Calif., fashion designer;

Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.;

Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of a publicly traded specialty finance company;

Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of investment management company;

Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, Calif., owner of wine vineyards;

Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm;

Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.;

Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer;

Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, Nev., owner and president of a media company;

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business;

Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company;

William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at a global equity firm;

Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company;

Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur;

Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams;

Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems;

John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm;

Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry; and

Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, Fla., founder and CEO of private investment firm.

I think the schools have no choice at this point.  Allowing students to stay enrolled who were only admitted as a result of fraud, cheating and bribery would be a huge stain on their reputations.

That said, I have personally experienced several examples of students (Chinese, of course) at top universities who CLEARLY cheated on entrance exams (like GMAT and TOEFL), and asked the administration to void their admission and expel them - only to be met with silence and inaction.    So unfortunately, you might be right.  Of course, if the instances I experienced that been embarrassingly PUBLIC, I bet the administration would have done something.

Interesting.  Thanks.

To a certain extent, that wouldn't even surprise me, given that it's USC.  They have a long history (especially on the football side) of blatantly disregarding and violating rules ... and getting away with it.  So there's an underlying culture of dishonestly and rule-breaking there.

Is that the school with the Banana-Slug mascot?  If so, I have heard of them.