Fmr. Education Secretary on College Admission Scums: Every Time They Do that They Take a Seat Away from a Hard Working Student

EXCERPT:

DUNCAN: “There are couple of themes here that are really disturbing. The first one is somehow the perception among families in this situation, very rich families, very wealthy families, that there is only one college that's good for their kids. And the truth is there are hundreds and hundreds of great schools, and the idea that you have to literally cheat, have to buy your way in, that is absolutely crazy. To state the obvious, every time they do that, they take a seat away from a hard working student whose family doesn’t have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to put behind this. So it is patently unfair in a system where, as you said, financial contributions from families, legacy admissions, it is often already rigged for the elite, for the privileged, for the wealthy. This is just another huge blow. The other theme is the disproportionate influence of athletics, and that seemed to be the 'side door.' As a former collegiate student athlete, and someone who understands how important athletics can be for teaching leadership and teaching positive lessons, to see that piece of this as part of the corruption, it — it hurts, it honestly hurts.”