Massive college admission scandal is all about widening US inequality gap – lawyer to Boom Bust

The college admissions scam recently making headlines clearly shows that there are “two Americas,” with one of them only for the rich, a lawyer for civil justice and consumer rights at Public Citizen told RT.

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice revealed that dozens of people were involved in a fraud to help students get into prestigious universities, while others were denied a fair admissions process. The scheme is believed to be the largest college admissions bribery case ever prosecuted by the US authorities.

“We cannot talk about this without bringing in race and class, it’s absolutely fundamental in income inequality,” lawyer Remington Gregg, who serves at Washington-based consumer rights advocacy group and think tank Public Citizen, said in an interview with RT’s Boom Bust.

Gregg says the scam merely exposes the reality of US society, where wealth and privilege allow some to believe that they do not have to play by the rules.

“There are two Americas. There is one set of rules for the wealthy and there is another set of rules for everyone else,” he said, adding that the “shocking” thing about the case is that those who already have advantages (based on money) “still refuse to abide by rules.”

At the same time, the entire American higher education system lacks affordability, the analyst says, with student loans forcing people into enormous debt, affecting their entire lives.

“We’re seeing people having to choose between paying for their mortgages and paying their student loan debt or waiting to have children. So this is impacting entire economy and it’s widening the wealth gap.”

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section