US Education Department investigates eight universities implicated in scandal: Report

The US Education Department has opened investigations into eight universities tied to a major admissions scam, Politico has reported, citing people close to the matter.

The US Education Department has opened investigations into eight universities tied to a major admissions scam, Politico has reported, citing people close to the matter.

Actress Felicity Huffman is seen inside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, on March 12, 2019. - Two Hollywood actresses including Oscar-nominated "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman are among 50 people indicted in a nationwide university admissions scam, court records unsealed in Boston on March 12, 2019 showed. The accused, who also include chief executives, allegedly cheated to get their children into elite schools, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said. (AFP/file)

If the department finds the colleges violated federal education regulations, it could impose penalties up to cutting off their access to federal student loans and grants.

Letters were sent informing the presidents of Yale, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles about the probe.

The move comes after the Department of Justice accused dozens of wealthy parents including two famous actresses of being involved in an operation that charged from $15,000 to millions of dollars to help them get their children into elite schools.

According to prosecutors, the accused parents paid a college admissions consulting firm as much as $6 million to cheat on entrance exams for their children or to bribe coaches to help students be recruited for sports they did not even play.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)