Education Department Will Investigate Universities Caught Up in College Admissions Scandal

It was only a few weeks ago that federal prosecutors revealed celebrities like Felicity Huffman as well as CEOs of major companies had been using bribes and cheating to get their kids into elite colleges. Now, the Department of Education is launching an investigation into the recent admissions scandal, according to Politico.The Department will look into whether universities broke any laws “governing the Federal student financial aid programs” or “any other applicable laws,” according to documents obtained by Politico.The investigation is targeting eight universities: Yale University, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Stanford University, Georgetown University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.If these universities are found to have broken the law, they could be hit with penalties as severe as having access to Pell grants and federal student loans cut.“The allegations made and evidence cited by the Department of Justice raise questions about whether your institution is fully meeting its obligations,” the letter written by an Education Department official and sent to the universities red.