William Rick Singer Biography
William Rick Singer is a 59 years old American man, who is at the center of the college admissions cheating scandal. Rick Singer is a Newport Beach, Calif., businessman who prosecutors say managed and profited from the cheating scheme.
He is the founder of Edge College & Career Network, LLC and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation. These two companies are at the center of the 2019 college-admissions scandal that has resulted in the prosecution of 33 parents, including celebrity Felicity Huffman, and 13 college coaches and other business associates.
William Rick Singer Age
Rick Singer is 59 years old as of 2019.
William Rick Singer Education
Rick Singer graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a Bachelors Degree in English and physical education and he also has a Masters in counseling and a doctorate in business and organizational management.
William Rick Singer College Admissions Scandal
Rick Singer is the alleged mastermind of the scheme that brought in millions of dollars by creating fraudulent college applications for prospective college students by; falsifying test scores, creating fake identities, and editing photos by putting kids’ faces onto athletes bodies to portray them as having athletic abilities they do not have.
He is the founder of Edge College & Career Network, LLC and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, companies which are at the center of the 2019 college-admissions scandal that has resulted in the prosecution of 33 parents, including celebrity Felicity Huffman, and 13 college coaches and other business associates.
The Edge College & Career Network LLC were Rick Singer’s for-profit college advising and preparation business, which was primarily known as The Key Worldwide.
According to the brochure on its website, they provided typical college admissions counseling and services beginning in 9th grade, including test preparation, developing “a student’s Personal Brand, admissions essay coaching, college selection advice, and application preparation.”
They also offered a “special talent program,” then prepared applications based on specific academic, athletic, or other scholarships.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department against Rick Singer, it is alleged he facilitated arrangements for applicants to have third parties take standardized tests for them and encouraged parents to fraudulently claim their child had a disability to secure extra time on tests.
He is also accused of bribing multiple proctors of standardized tests with payments of up to $10,000 a student and return, proctors would assist in replacing students’ answers or allow others to take the test in a student’s place.
Rick Singer is said to have been paid up to $75,000 for one test arrangement.
He has also been accused of paying university sports coaches and administrators millions of dollars to designate students as recruited athletes, regardless of ability.
He is accused of paying coaches in at least eight universities millions of dollars in the scheme and the money is said to have gone to the coaches, the university’s athletic programs, and private businesses run by the coaches.
William Rick Singer Bail
Rick Singer was released on a $500,000 bond. His sentencing will be on June 19 and he faces up to 65 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.25 million.