……………….U.C. scrap test to admit

In this April 2019 photo, actress Lori Loughlin and husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, depart federal court in Boston after facing charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

.

Loughlin and Giannulli, whose trial was set for October, under a deal from prosecutors, will plead guilty to fraud.

.

The 10-campus University of California system is the nation’s premier public university system and provides a vast base of customers for the SAT and ACT. So the UC regents’ decision Thursday to scuttle the tests as an admission requirement is expected to have far-reaching consequences for the future of the standardized tests.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, an ex-officio regent, called the vote “the beginning of the end” for the SAT.

The UC system, which decided to require the SAT half a century ago, now joins more than 1,000 other colleges and universities that have dropped the standardized-test requirement. Under a five-year plan advanced by UC President Janet Napolitano, the SAT and ACT will be eased out as the UC system develops its own assessment, which is expected to be in place by fall 2025.

The vote came after vigorous debate. Proponents of the tests say they are a useful and uniform measure of academic preparedness; opponents say they are unfair to disadvantaged students.

[Read “UC makes landmark decision to drop ACT and SAT requirement for admission” in the Los Angeles Times]

Elsewhere in higher education, the college-admissions scandal has resulted in agreements to plead guilty from television actress Lori Loughlin and her husband J. Mossimo Giannulli, court documents reveal.

The pair paid $500,000 to William “Rick” Singer, the Newport Beach college-admissions consultant, and were accused of conspiring with him to pass off their two daughters as promising rowing recruits to win admission to USC.

For more than a year, the pair have steadfastly maintained their innocence, saying Singer misled them into believing the money was being used for legitimate university purposes, rather than as a “side door” into the school that involved bribing an administrator.

But the defense suffered a major blow when a judge declined to dismiss any charges or throw out a series of recorded calls that captured the couple’s conversations with Singer.

In this April 2019 photo, actress Lori Loughlin and husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, depart federal court in Boston after facing charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

.

Under a deal from prosecutors, Loughlin and Giannulli, whose trial was set for October, will plead guilty to fraud. She has agreed to spend two months in federal prison, while he would get five months, with fines and community service for both. Prosecutors will drop money laundering and bribery charges.

The deal will have to be approved by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, who has already sentenced four other defendants in the scandal to prison terms ranging from five to nine months.

[Read “Lori Loughlin to plead guilty in college admissions scandal, faces 2 months in prison” in the Los Angeles Times]

It's only fair to share...