Our view: Will you pay for our tuition Aunt Becky?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a rich family that would bribe your whole way into college without you having to pay a cent? Must be nice right? Well, it’s also highly illegally and Aunt Becky is quickly figuring that out.

Lori Loughlin is in hot water after she, her husband, and many other wealthy people were charged in a college admissions cheating scandal that spread nationwide. In an affidavit that was shown to the public on Tuesday, investigators shared that Loughlin and her husband, “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the (University of Southern California) crew team, despite the fact they did not participate in crew, thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”

She, among many other wealthy parents, have been charged by the FBI and the U.S Attorney’s office in the district of Massachusetts, and some have even been jailed. Loughlin is officially being charged with “conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud,” according to an indictment on Tuesday.

What does this situation have anything to do with any of us? Well, if you were to have applied to the colleges that have been used, and were in the lead for a scholarship or an acceptance, your spot could have been taken due to these bribes by rich parents wanting their kids to have the best. All of the 33 cases of this scandal cost 33 other students a chance to attend these prestigious schools, and gave it to those who got it in an indecent way.

Not only have these people stolen spots from other potential students, but they are attending a college that they don’t necessarily deserve to go to, just because they have rich parents. Whether the student had anything to do with the situation or not, it is still seen as not morally correct to keep their position when it came from a form of illegal activity.

And what resonates with us the most, is that they are essentially going to school for little to nothing because of their financial situation. For most of us, we envy their position because most of us are only relying on our own money to pay for tuition and plus charges. We are essentially paying on our own unless some of us are lucky enough to snag scholarships while we attend. With the FAFSA already making it unfair to receive financial aid because it’s based on our family situations, it doesn’t help when stories like this arise where another wealthy person is getting in through the back door because of their money.

But maybe next time, Aunt Becky will learn to Wake Up San Francisco, not Wake up her cellmate, a paraphrased quote by staff writer Shea Hubbs.

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