Admissions Scandal

Another parent -- part of the Varsity Blues Scandal -- was sentenced this week to the longest amount of jail time any parent in the scandal has yet received.

The USC class of 2024 is the largest incoming freshman class, with a record-breaking percentage of first-generation students, according to statistics released by the university Tuesday. Twenty-two percent of the incoming undergraduate class are first-generation students, a seven percentage point increase from last year.

Hodge pleaded guilty in October on two counts - money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud.

When the “Varsity Blues” admissions bribery scandal broke in March, USC declared itself as a victim of fraud, asserting it had no reason to believe that senior administrators were aware of the wide-ranging scam, which helped unqualified students gain entry to USC by way of bogus application materials. Now, new details about Donna Heinel, the senior associate athletic director who prosecutors say was a key conduit in the scheme, shed light on just how expansive her role within the athletics department was — and on whether USC monitored her activities closely enough.

Depending on a student’s background and intended career, ‘elite’ institutions may not be worth the price tag.

Former insurance executive and USC parent Toby MacFarlane was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison for his involvement in the college admissions scandal.

Dr. Katharine Harrington will resign from her position on June 30, 2020.

11 of the 15 USC-related parents will face new charges in the college admissions scandal.

As the global climate crisis worsens, a new climate-action group has popped up at USC in mid September, opening up the opportunity for students to get directly involved in mitigating the climate crisis. The organization is a campus chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a national youth activist movement calling for government response to the climate crisis and advocating for job creation.

Agustin Huneeus Jr., a Napa Valley winemaker, was sentenced on Friday to five months in prison for bribing his daughter’s admission to USC, as part of the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal. Huneeus pleaded guilty to the charges in May, after admitting to paying scandal mastermind William “Rick” Singer. With Singer’s help, parents involved in the scandal tried to subvert the college admissions process and falsify test scores.