WASHINGTON — Parents who bribe coaches can do prison time -- but what about parents who just donate millions to the colleges themselves?
Lots of critics are suggesting money lets those uber-wealthy kids game the system too -- but it's legal.
Of course, the Trump family has ended up at the center of the debate. Donald Trump Jr questioned Hollywood's silence on the scandal. A Bloomberg editor fired back, suggesting Trump Jr. and his sister got into Penn and Wharton because of their dad's $1.5 million in contributions.
In the book "The Price of Admission, How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates," author Daniel Golden reports Jared Kushner got into Harvard shortly after his father contributed a perfectly legal $2.5 million to the nation's most exclusive college.
A spokesman for the Kushner Companies points out Jared Kushner was, "an excellent student in high school and graduated from Harvard with honors."
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Zareen Samey says the whole system seems rigged. "It's just not fair." Samey got into George Mason and just graduated. She dreamed of the Ivy League, but her parents told her they couldn't afford it. "To me, it's all silver platter- based, where there's one student that goes to a university where the hall is named after their family member."
Terri Hurley's son Jacob is about to start applying for college. "When you cheat to get in, you took the place of someone else," she said. But she's unwilling to stress on the rat race. "I don't care where he goes. I want him to go somewhere where he'll be happy."
Golden expected his book on the rich and powerful buying their way into elite schools to serve as an expose. Instead some wealthy parents saw it as a "How To," even offering to pay him to help get their kids in.