Rick Singer, the perpetrator of the college admissions scandal, is back in business

The mastermind behind a college admissions scandal, a convicted felon who claims to have changed, tries to persuade families to rehire him for advice.

There is a long list of jobs that convicted felons cannot do.

This doesn’t seem to include being a high-end college admissions consultant.

The proof of this thesis is William “Rick” Singer – the gray-haired leader of the “Operation Varsity Blues” program, who five years ago pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, money laundering, fraud and obstruction..

Singer was sentenced to federal prison in January 2023 after he cooperated with authorities to help expose wealthy parents who recruited him to exploit the college admissions system to unfairly and often illegally send their children to prestigious colleges such as University of Southern California. and Yale.

Nearly two years after his sentencing, Singer is out of prison and trying to get back into the college recruiting game. This time he promised to play by the rules (and more importantly, the law).

in May social media accounts appeared online for a new college consulting service called ID Future Stars. The his company’s website offers “personalized coaching, expert advice and comprehensive support” to guide clients “through every step of the college admissions process.” There is even a website with the so-called my fault from Singer himself.

“I am not afraid to tell people who I am and that I made a mistake, I have taken full responsibility and I want to share my knowledge, passion and desire to help shape the leaders of our next generation, helping everyone find the college and career that will be most important to them “the right choice for every person,” we read in his online opinion. He also promises on his website that he will “continue to leverage our deep relationships with respected decision-makers in colleges and universities” while maintaining his “good standing.”

“The important values I learned on my journey,” he writes, were “staying away from the gray area of college admissions and institutional advancement.” He adds: “I will not travel on the rough side of the road, even if the coast looks clear, but we will urgently seek appropriate guidance and support from experts.”

Singer’s representative and his lawyers did not provide him with an opportunity to speak with USA TODAY, and his representative did not respond to a list of questions he requested. But Singer told the Wall Street Journal: who was the first to report about his reappearance, that he was preparing to welcome new clients at the California halfway house where he was living after serving 16 months in federal prison.

His new venture has made many in the college admissions world – as well as some who helped put him behind bars – roll their eyes. It also highlights lax supervision cottage industry residents of the United States who, in the eyes of wealthy families, present themselves as scholars entering college.

Much has changed regarding college admissions since Varsity Blues, a multimillion-dollar, star-studded scandal, first made headlines in 2019. Still, some parents worry about getting their children into certain schools. And the number of applications to the richest and most selective universities continues to grow.

“He kind of found the perfect industry for someone who wants a second chance,” said Jeff Selingo, a best-selling author on college admissions and former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education. “There are no regulations, no licensing and parental anxiety is greater than ever.”

Singer’s prosecutor ‘doesn’t take anything he says seriously’

When Eric Rosen learned that Singer was getting back into the college recruiting game, two words came to mind: “Buyer beware.”

Rosen lived and breathed Varsity Blues for a long time as the federal prosecutor on the case. This ultimately led to dozens of guilty pleas, including from Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who separately hired Singer to help their children. Rosen, then an assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, estimated he spent hundreds of hours thinking about Singer.

“I know not to take anything he says seriously,” he said.

In March 2019, more than 50 people – including wealthy CEOs and celebrities – were indicted in Varsity Blues, the largest college admissions case ever brought by the Department of Justice. Prominent parents and influential athletic coaches were accused of participating in a nationwide conspiracy orchestrated by Singer to cheat on college entrance exams and induce colleges to recruit children under the guise of student-athletes.

Students he pretended to be disabled. The book cheat usually made money $10,000 each to take college entrance exams, such as the SAT or ACT for college students, or improve your answers. The parents paid multi-million bribes.

Beyond the horrible details, the case had a cultural resonance. It was a story about money, power, access, and the injustice of the American education system.

Rosen said working on the case was the most stressful time of his life. He currently works as a defense lawyer and supports a number of reforms in the justice system. Still, he hopes every parent would be “very, very skeptical” of Singer.

“Do I think it’s right to start a new college admissions company after what happened? No,” he said.

How has the recruitment process changed? from Varsity Blues

Much has changed about college admissions since Varsity Blues first captured the zeitgeist a year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

While the scandal had not already undermined reliance on standardized testing, the pandemic has pushed universities in that direction. Since then, artificial intelligence has raised questions about the value of admissions essays. The Supreme Court also banned racially motivated admissions to the selective schools involved in the case. Many of these same schools became bastions of confusion last year amid protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Five years after the scandal broke, the Justice Department continues to tout Varsity Blues as a major victory that will have a “lasting and far-reaching impact.”

“This case resulted in concrete changes that made the college admissions process more fair,” said Joshua S. Levy, acting U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. in a February statement honoring the prosecutors handling this case.

If Varsity Blues accomplished anything, it reaffirmed the value of brick-and-mortar colleges, said Nick Hillman, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most students, he said, do not attend universities with single-digit acceptance rates that have been accused of taking bribes. Two-thirds of undergraduate students attend college within 50 miles at home, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.

“What you’ve seen over the last few years is that geography really matters,” Hillman said. “Most students don’t go to places like USC or the Ivy League.”

Despite this cultural shift, the competition to get into the most selective colleges has become even tougher. That’s why people like Singer could always have a monopoly market, says Joseph Soares, a sociologist and admissions expert at Wake Forest University, the school embroiled in the Varsity Blues scandal. (Soares has no connection to the defendants in this case.)

““People who are obsessed with the most prestigious institutions are still obsessed with them,” he said.

Zachary Schermele is an education reporter USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.