Poll: Large majority says college admissions unfairly favor wealthy, well-connected

The majority of Americans believe the college admissions process unfairly favors the wealthy and well-connected, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents to the Suffolk University-USA Today survey said that the higher education admissions process is unfairly tilted to the wealthy and well-connected.

Fewer than 20 percent said that they think the process is generally fair.

{mosads}”Respondents in the poll are saying money talks, and they don’t like it,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center, said in a statement.

“Across all demographics, Americans find college admissions unfairly favor the wealthy and the well connected.”

The survey of 1,000 voters, done between March 13-17, was conducted directly after more than 40 individuals were charged in what federal prosecutors called the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.”

Several wealthy parents, including actresses, business executives and others, allegedly paid large sums to have their children admitted into elite universities by bribing coaches and paying people to help cheat on college entrance exams.

Beyond illegal activity, respondents were generally opposed to wealth being used to influence college admissions.

The majority of those polled, 83 percent, said that students should not get special treatment if their parents or relatives donate large sums of money to a university or buy a building.