Another College Admission Scam. Rich parents giving up gaurdianship of children to get aid

[Opel_Justwax]

[link:https://www.propublica.org/article/university-of-illinois-financial-aid-fafsa-parents-guardianship-children-students|]

While ProPublica Illinois uncovered this practice in north suburban Lake County, where almost four dozen such guardianships were filed in the past 18 months, similar petitions have been filed in at least five other counties and the practice may be happening throughout the country. ProPublica Illinois is still investigating.

Borst said he first became suspicious when a high school counselor from an affluent Chicago suburb called him about a year ago to ask why a particular student had been invited to an orientation program for low-income students. Borst checked the student’s financial aid application and saw she had obtained a legal guardian, making her eligible to qualify for financial aid independently.

[onecaliberal]

1. This really fucking pisses me off

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Disgusting.

[lostnfound]

3. Wonder how many of these parents vote republican to get lower taxes and oppose free tuition?

Lake County is rural red area.

[lunasun]

5. They also include all the northern Richie rich suburbs of Chicago . The HSs mentioned are mostly

in the rich suburbs not the rural parts . Plenty of red there too $$$

No issue at all about taking the $$ away from a kid in Zion, North Chicago or Round Lake Beach .
Soulless creeps learn young how to cheat for cash and will continue for a lifetime
—x-from link
“That’s not the way guardianship is supposed to be used,” she said. “If someone is trying to do that at the very last minute, it seems that they might be trying to take advantage of the system.”

The children obtaining guardianships for educational opportunities have attended some of the area’s most prestigious schools, including Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire and Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook. Others go to high schools in Vernon Hills, Grayslake, Libertyville and Lake Forest

These schools mentioned are all in high end old established suburbs

[Blue_true]

8. My guess? Every single one of them. They are societal freeriders, take as much as possible, give

up as little as possible, that is the reality of the typical republican.

[former9thward]

16. No its not rural.

It is suburban. All of the Lake County contested positions went to Democrats in the 2018 election.

[lindysalsagal]

4. That's an old one, along with moving senior year to a rural town, where they don't run up

against a limit for that school.

[Blue_true]

9. How does the last practice that you mentioned works?

I have never heard of it before you mentioned it.

[lindysalsagal]

13. Especially with star athletes: They know their current school has a limit allotment for each college

and their kid might not be in that top 2 or 3 so they move to a rural district just in time for applications. That way, it looks like the college is including less-advantaged schools. They like to average their draw and spread the wealth around so it looks like they're being fair to disadvantaged kids. Plus, that kid will rank higher in that school and be the best player .

[Blue_true]

15. Thanks. Truly amazing how many paths of deception there is in life.

I wish that was not the case, but it is what it is.

[Hortensis]

6. I hope they throw the book at these parents, and students

where appropriate. Let them find out what low-income jails are like.

[Blue_true]

11. I agree. They did at least a couple types of fraud crimes. nt

[Blue_true]

7. Naked greed. Disgusting, and one reason why our system does not work the way it should. nt

[keithbvadu2]

10. How about charges of child neglect?

"The man eventually agreed to become the teenager’s guardian, though the guardianship lasted only about a month, until she turned 18. He said that he did not provide financial support for her, and that she did not live in his home."

[quakerboy]

12. Ya know.. I actually like this

The obvious solution is tuition free college.

But within the system we have... I wish i had thought of this. My parents made enough that I was horked on student aid. But my dad is of the "you should earn it yourself, so we won't be helping you with college" school. It would have been really nice to not spend my entire adult life trying to pay down student loans

[Tanuki]

14. This is horrible. I hope that some prosecutions for fraud come out of this,

along with more public shaming and naming the doctors, lawyers, school administrators, and others who basically stole resources meant for the truly needy. Thanks for posting this. I was not aware of this particular scam. I also followed the link and made a small donation to Propublica, as investigative reporting needs our support.