To give every student, regardless of demographics, access to high-quality college admissions guidance.

When the College Admission Fraud Scandal “Operation Varsity Blues” broke out in March of 2019, we were inundated with calls from news outlets, clients and friends. “How dare these people cheat the system!”

Here is our take:

Most news shows were so focused on the fraudulent acts and celebrity involvement that they missed the forest from the trees, as they say.

The real issue was NOT about wealthy privilege. Minus the few bad eggs, almost all who access private counseling (and pay a small fortune for it) engage the process of enhancing the profile with ethics and integrity. And in reality, when the super-wealthy privilege is legal (huge donation to a school in exchange for entry) it is actually a huge benefit to the rest of the students there (i.e. they get to enjoy a brand new science building or student center). That coveted spot is a small price to pay when the return is so great.

The real core issue is about the lack of resources for the disadvantaged. We believe that one of the MOST OVERLOOKED aspects contributing to the gap today is access to high-quality college admissions guidance. Only one-third of American public schools have a dedicated college counselor and most of those are in affluent areas. The ratio of students to counselors is 500:1 and in some places 1000:1 and in 21% of schools, no counselor AT ALL.

The main focus of this story should be the importance of getting guidance to the disadvantaged. We pay so much attention to the sensational aspect of 50 despicable rich and famous families who gamed the system, rather than focus on addressing the problem of a lack of guidance for our nation’s youth.

This story feels like an amazing opportunity to highlight this massive society-shaping issue. We like to call it: “Closing the Guidance Gap.”

Help us close it!