Accessibility links

Breaking News

Student Union

Actress Lori Loughlin Faces New Charge in College Bribery Case

Combination photo shows actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, outside federal court in Boston on April 3, 2019, where they faced charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.
Combination photo shows actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, outside federal court in Boston on April 3, 2019, where they faced charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.

"Full House" star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and 14 other parents were hit Tuesday with a new money laundering charge in the sweeping college admissions bribery scheme.

The move comes a day after fellow actress Felicity Huffman, 12 other parents and a coach agreed to plead guilty — signaling an escalation in the case against the parents who are continuing to fight the allegations against them.

Loughlin and Giannulli were among 33 prominent parents accused of participating in a scheme that involved rigging college entrance exams and bribing coaches at elite universities.

They were arrested last month on a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. An indictment brought Tuesday adds a charge of money laundering conspiracy against the couple and 14 other parents.

Amy and Gregory Colburn, a California couple accused of paying $25,000 to cheat on their son's SAT, were indicted on the money laundering and mail fraud conspiracy charges last month.

The parents are accused of paying an admissions consultant, Rick Singer, to cheat on their children's college entrance exams and get their children admitted as athletic recruits at such elite schools as Georgetown and Yale.

Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew team recruits, even though neither of them played the sport.

They appeared in Boston federal court briefly last week and were not asked to enter a plea. They have not publicly addressed the allegations against them.

Other parents indicted on the new charge Tuesday include Michelle Janavs, whose family developed the microwave snack line Hot Pockets before selling their company, and William McGlashan, who co-founded an investment fund with U2's Bono in 2017.

Huffman, the 56-year-old Emmy-winner who stared in ABC's "Desperate Housewives," was accused of paying $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation to have a proctor correct the answers on her daughter's SAT. She and the 12 other parents agreed to plead guilty Monday to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Prosecutors say they will seek a prison sentence that's on the low end of between four and 10 months for Huffman.

In her first public comments since her arrest, Huffman took responsibility for her actions and said she would accept the consequences.

"My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty," she said after her plea deal was announced.

See all News Updates of the Day

Record 1.1 million international students in US, report finds

FILE - Students walk past the Thorne Hall at Occidental College campus in Los Angeles, July 27, 2023.
FILE - Students walk past the Thorne Hall at Occidental College campus in Los Angeles, July 27, 2023.

The U.S. has set a new record for international students, hosting more than 1.1 million students during the 2023-24 academic year, a new report says.

That's according to Boundless, which says its mission is "to empower every family to navigate the immigration system more confidently, rapidly and affordably."

Read the full story here. (November 2024)

Nigeria ranks No. 1 among African countries sending students to US

FILE - UCLA students celebrate during a commencement ceremony inside Pauley Pavilion on UCLA campus, in Los Angeles, June 14, 2024.
FILE - UCLA students celebrate during a commencement ceremony inside Pauley Pavilion on UCLA campus, in Los Angeles, June 14, 2024.

Nairametrics, an African news website, says that Nigeria has become the No. 1 African country sending students to the U.S.; worldwide, it's No. 7.

Read the story here. (November 2024)

International students face barriers in applying to Princeton, students say

FILE - The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is pictured at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.
FILE - The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is pictured at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.

International students face special challenges in applying to Princeton University, a story in The Daily Princetonian, the campus newspaper, says.

They include navigating Princeton's "holistic" immigration process.

Read the full story here. (November 2024)

International students at Amherst ponder visa concerns in Trump administration

FILE - US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., Nov. 19, 2024 .
FILE - US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., Nov. 19, 2024 .

International students at Amherst College talk about Donald Trump's upcoming U.S. presidency and what it might mean for them in this story from the student newspaper, The Amherst Student.

Specifically, they worry that the new president's administration might make it harder to get visas to study and work in the U.S.

Read the full story here. (November 2024)

Several students charged in hazing case at University of Alabama

FILE - The Autherine Lucy Clock Tower at the Malone Hood Plaza stands in front of Foster Auditorium on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala., June 16, 2019.
FILE - The Autherine Lucy Clock Tower at the Malone Hood Plaza stands in front of Foster Auditorium on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala., June 16, 2019.

Several students were accused in a reported fraternity hazing incident at the University of Alabama in which a pledge said he was shoved, stepped on and had things thrown at him, according to NBC News.

Four men, age 20 to 22, were charged with two counts of hazing at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. NBC News reports that some of the actions were captured on video. (October 2024)

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG