US Education Department investigates 8 universities implicated in scandal: report

The US Education Department has opened investigations into eight universities tied to a major admissions scam, Politico has reported, citing people close to the matter.

If the department finds the colleges violated federal education regulations, it could impose penalties up to cutting off their access to federal student loans and grants.

Letters were sent informing the presidents of Yale, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles about the probe.

The move comes after the Department of Justice accused dozens of wealthy parents including two famous actresses of being involved in an operation that charged from $15,000 to millions of dollars to help them get their children into elite schools.

According to prosecutors, the accused parents paid a college admissions consulting firm as much as $6 million to cheat on entrance exams for their children or to bribe coaches to help students be recruited for sports they did not even play.