“Following the review,” school officials posted on Twitter, “we will take the proper action related to their status, up to revoking admission or expulsion.”
A number of schools implicated in the scandal, including the University of California, Los Angeles, have warned that they might punish students who were connected to the scheme. USC’s announcement shows officials moving ahead to change the status of students potentially caught up in the fraud while the school continues to investigate.
Last week, federal prosecutors indicted dozens of wealthy parents, including Hollywood celebrities and prominent business leaders, on charges that they paid large sums to get their children into Yale, Stanford and other schools. USC said last week that it would reject any applicants involved in fraudulent admissions.
Schools like USC are now facing questions about what to do with students currently enrolled who may have benefited from their parents’ efforts to cheat the admissions system. Prosecutors said some students appeared to have been in the dark about what their parents were doing.
A spokesman for USC, Eddie North-Hager, said he did not know how many students had been blocked from registering for classes pending the review, and did not know how long the process would take.
Among the accused parents with students at USC are Lori Loughlin, the actress best known for her role in the show “Full House,” and Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer. Their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli, attend the university.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.