Man behind sweeping college admissions scandal has San Antonio ties

William "Rick" Singer attended Trinity in mid-80s, also attended OLLU

SAN ANTONIO – The man at the center of a sweeping college admissions scandal has ties to two San Antonio universities.

William "Rick" Singer, 58, is accused of conspiring with wealthy parents to pay bribes to get their children into high-profile schools such as Yale, Stanford, the University of Texas-Austin, Georgetown, UCLA and USC.

Singer pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges in federal court Tuesday in Boston.

KSAT has confirmed Singer was enrolled at Trinity University in the mid-'80s.

According to the university's media relations department, he was enrolled at Trinity under the name Rick W. Singer from spring 1984 through spring 1986.

The university said Singer graduated with a bachelor's degree in May 1986 with two majors: physical education and English.

Singer was also a student-athlete, and played both baseball and basketball.

According to the university, Singer transferred to Trinity after receiving transfer credit from Our Lady of the Lake University and Brookhaven College.

On Wednesday, the University of Texas fired its men's tennis coach, Michael Center, after he was charged in the bribery case.

Federal authorities said Singer founded The Edge College & Career Network LLC, the company that was used for the scheme.

Singer was paid an estimated $25 million between 2011 and 2019 by parents in an effort to bribe coaches and university administrators, according to federal documents. Two of the parents included in the indictment were actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

Singer also hired people to take college entrance exams for students or paid others to correct answers for those children, officials said.

Federal authorities said in several cases, Singer designated the children of those parents as recruited athletes or found other favorable admission categories.


About the Author:

RJ Marquez is the traffic anchor/reporter for KSAT’s Good Morning San Antonio. He also fills in as a news anchor and has covered stories from breaking news and Fiesta to Spurs championships and high school sports. RJ started at KSAT in 2010. He is proud to serve our viewers and be a part of the culture and community that makes San Antonio great.