Varsity Blues | Future Stars
American Scandal
This episode of American Scandal explores the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, focusing on how wealthy families exploited a broken
Key takeaways
- The college admissions process in America has become hyper-competitive, creating opportunities for exploitation by those with wealth and influence.
Main topics
- College admissions corruption
- Rick Singer's fraudulent network
Notable quotes
"They said it wasn't illegal, just strategic, making full use of the system."
Conclusion
The Varsity Blues scandal revealed deep flaws in America's higher education admissions system,
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:00) Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. Speaker 3 (0:30) It's March 12, 2019, at the Edward R. Royal Federal Building and Courthouse in Los Angeles, California. An unmarked black sedan glides down a ramp into an underground parking garage. Headlights sweep across concrete pillars as it eases into a reserved bay. A federal agent steps from the passenger seat, opens the rear door, and helps a 50-year-old woman out of the car. The self-help author and businesswoman Jane Buckingham is used to arriving in style. wearing designer outfits accessorized with expensive jewelry. But today, she's in yoga pants, a t-shirt, and sneakers, the workout clothes she was wearing when federal investigators hammered on her door this morning. The agent's grip tightens around Buckingham's arm as he escorts her into the courthouse. They take the elevator up one floor, and the agent flips a switch to buzz them through a security gate. Gloved hands patter down. Someone slips a belly chain around her waist and cuffs her hands to it. Then she's taken to the holding cells. Buckingham has never been arrested before. Still, the other people inside the cell aren't what she expected. There are no hardened criminals glaring at her from the corners, just a cluster of frightened, middle-aged women in casual clothes just like her. One sits alone, head bowed, elbows on her knees. She looks up as the cell door bangs shut. Her hair is tied back in a messy ponytail, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, but there's still no mistaking her. It's actress Felicity Huffman, star of the hit show Desperate Housewives. Buckingham knows Huffman not just from television, but from years of dinner parties, fundraisers, and social events around Los Angeles. She's the last one she expected here. Felicity? Huffman looks exhausted. Her eyes are red-rimmed. Jane. Buggy Ann lowers herself onto the bench beside her friend. What are you doing here? I was hoping you could tell me. What have they said? That I'm under arrest for conspiracy. Something about mail fraud and racketeering. That's what they told me, too. They said they had my emails and my phone records and they took my laptop. Yeah, they took my phone. What do you think it is? I have no idea. But they keep asking me about my daughters. How old were they? High school, one's a senior, the other a junior, heading off to college soon. Buckingham's mind races, grasping for anything to explain their situation. Did you... did you use Rick Singer? You know Rick? Oh my god, yes. He helped my son with the ACT. Well, we did the SAT through him. He said it wasn't illegal, just strategic, making full use of the system. That's what he told me, too. Across the room, another woman begins crying softly into her hands. Hoffman looks around, as though seeing the others in the cell for the first time. You think there are more of us? Buckingham looks toward the cell door. I think we're about to find out. Speaker 3 (3:27) Over the course of a single morning, the privileged lives of Jane Buckingham and Felicity Huffman have been turned upside down. Both are accused of participating in a nationwide criminal conspiracy of breaking the rules to secure their children an advantage in America's hyper-competitive college admissions process. And now the authorities are about to expose them. But Buckingham and Huffman are not the architects of this operation. The mastermind is a charismatic college counselor named Rick Singer. a man who saw opportunity in a broken system and built a criminal empire to exploit it. Speaker 5 (4:04) Hi, I'm Candace DeLong, former FBI profiler and host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, I speak with legal analyst Josh Ritter to break down Luigi Mangione's stunning guilty plea in federal court. Listen to Killer Psyche on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (4:24) Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Business Wars from Audible Originals. In our new season, Sweet and Low, Equal, and Splenda are locked in a bitter fight, battling for billions, while scientists and regulators threaten to shut them all down. Make sure to listen to Business Wars on Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 3 (4:50) From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal. Speaker 3 (5:15) During the first two decades of this century, America's college admissions process became brutally competitive. High school students and their families invested enormous amounts of time, effort, and emotional energy chasing acceptance letters from elite universities. But the wealthy had an extra advantage. By offering large donations or leveraging alumni networks, the rich could open doors that the less well-connected and less well-off never even knew existed. This had been a feature of the admissions process for generations. But in the mid-2000s, one man began offering the rich and famous another route into the most competitive schools. Rick Singer began his career as a legitimate college counselor, helping ambitious students and anxious parents navigate a confusing, high-stakes system. Over time, though, his business evolved into something else. The scale of his operation was staggering, and by the time federal investigators uncovered his fraudulent activities, Singer's network included dozens of privileged families, from high-flying corporate executives to top Hollywood celebrities. When prosecutors unsealed indictments in March 2019, high-profile arrests turned a story about academic admissions into a full-blown media spectacle. Television cameras captured images of famous parents in handcuffs, prominent figures facing charges once reserved for the kingpins of organized crime. But beneath the headlines was something more unsettling. This was not just about a few celebrities breaking the law. It exposed a system where privilege didn't just open doors. It allowed people to ignore the rules. The inequalities in American college admissions had long been an open secret. But it took one man and his willingness to push every boundary to turn it into a national scandal. This is Episode 1, Future Stars. Speaker 3 (7:04) It's a Saturday afternoon in the fall of 1994 in Carmichael, an affluent suburb of Sacramento, California. Sunlight pours through the wide windows of Bill Templeton's study. Templeton is the CEO of Money Store, one of the country's fastest-growing mortgage lenders, and he's reviewing the figures for last quarter. He often has to bring work home on weekends, but he tries to power through it quickly. Family time matters to him, and he hates letting business bleed into it more than necessary. So when the doorbell rings, he's already annoyed by the interruption. Laying his papers to one side, he heads downstairs. Speaker 3 (7:42) Standing on the porch is a lean, athletic-looking man in jeans, running shoes, and a polo shirt. He looks more like a tennis instructor than a salesman, Speaker 4 (7:50) but he flashes the easy smile of someone used to knocking on doors. Speaker 3 (7:53) I'm sorry to interrupt your Saturday, sir. Am I talking to Bill Templeton? Speaker 4 (7:58) Templeton keeps one hand firmly on the door. Yes? The man extends a hand. Speaker 3 (8:03) Rick Singer, I was hoping to steal just five minutes of your time. Templeton ignores the handshake and begins pushing the door closed. I'm not buying anything today. No, please, Mr. Templeton, no, no. I help kids get into college. That's what I do. Singer stops the door from shutting. You have two daughters in high school, right? You're a, what, a college counselor? I'm an independent college counselor, sir. Big difference. I didn't know there was such a thing. Well, most people don't, but that's their loss and your gain. Singer says it with such certainty that Templeton almost smiles at his bravado. He opens the door another inch. How old are you, Mr. Singer? I'm 34. I know, I've got a baby face, but I've got experience too. I've worked in high schools, and I've spent the last few years coaching basketball at Sacramento State. Working with those kids has taught me a lot. Templeton studies him more carefully now. And what exactly are you offering here? Well, it's a game plan, sir. Applying for college isn't all that different from basketball. On the court, it's not just about who's the fastest or the tallest. It's about learning to play to your strengths. A kid can have all the talent in the world and never reach their potential without the right coach guiding them. And you think you're the right coach. I know I am. That's a bold statement. I'm a pretty bold guy, sir. Templeton thinks for a moment. My oldest is starting to look at schools right now. Good GPA? Very good. Is she athletic? Decent enough. Leadership stuff? Clubs? Student government? Some. Singer tilts his head like a doctor evaluating symptoms. And she's probably thinking UC schools. That's right. Just like everyone else. Well, it's competitive. But my job is knowing what admissions officers want to see and making sure they find it in your daughter's application. All right. And how much does this kind of coaching cost? Well, that depends on how far you want to go. Templeton looks at him for a few seconds, and then he steps aside from the doorway. All right, coach. All right. You talk good game. Come on in. Let's see what you've got. Speaker 3 (10:02) Rick Singer isn't intimidated by wealthy neighborhoods like the Sacramento suburb where Bill Templeton lives. He grew up in Lincolnwood, a similarly affluent area north of Chicago. And even as a child, he was intensely driven. In middle school, Singer struggled with his weight. But before starting high school, he decided to reinvent himself. And over a single summer, he transformed his appearance through sheer willpower. He ran obsessively every day and survived largely on Diet Coke, raisins, and peanuts. By the time classes began in the fall, the overweight middle schooler had become a lean, athletic teenager. This transformation changed more than just his appearance, though. It gave Singer new confidence. High school peers remembered his easy smile, boundless energy, and fierce ambition. He wanted to become a millionaire and wasn't shy about it. But Singer's path to riches did not follow the traditional route, unlike many of his classmates who headed off to prestigious universities. Singer bounced between colleges before eventually earning a degree from Trinity University in Texas. After graduating, he moved into basketball coaching, first at the high school level, then as assistant coach at Sacramento State University. Coaching suited his personality. He was energetic, enthusiastic, and comfortable mentor in teenagers. But it also exposed him to a hard reality. Coaching was an unstable profession.