Fallout From College Admissions Scandal: Arrests, Damage Control and a Scramble for Answers

Colleges where coaches were accused of taking bribes were reeling. Wealthy parents charged in the case were preparing to surrender to authorities or were free on bail. And companies were distancing themselves from executives accused of paying for falsified test scores and athletic status for their children.

One of the most prominent parents, actress Lori Loughlin, surrendered to FBI agents in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters accepted as recruits for the rowing team at the University of Southern California, even though neither took part in the sport. Giannulli was arrested Tuesday and released on $1 million bail.

The central figure in the case, William Singer, a college admissions consultant based in Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges in Boston on Tuesday and was released on bail.

The accusations against Singer, also known as Rick Singer, pose potential problems for the organizations behind the two most widely used college admissions tests, the SAT and the ACT.

According to prosecutors, Singer bribed test administrators and proctors to tamper with students’ answer sheets, or in some cases to take the whole test in a student’s place, to obtain the scores that were agreed in advance with the parents who paid him.

The conspiracy relied on the parents getting medical documentation that would entitle their children to extra time on the test, an accommodation normally made for students with disabilities. Students who need extra time generally take the test alone, supervised only by a proctor — providing the opportunity for the bribed proctor to rig the outcome. Singer advised parents on how to get the medical documentation needed to qualify.

Zachary Goldberg, a spokesman for the College Board, which administers the SAT, defended the extra-time policy.

The board asks for documentation in some cases, Goldberg said, but in the “vast majority” of cases, the modifications are granted through the schools that students attend, where they are evaluated and given an individualized education program.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.