Yale has rescinded admission for a student whose family is alleged to have paid $1.2 million to get her in, the school announced Tuesday, in what's believed to be the first such move by a US college since the admissions scandal broke.
The decision comes two weeks after dozens of parents, coaches, and university administrators were indicted in the massive college admissions scam.
As part of the scandal, former Yale women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith was charged with accepting bribes in exchange for designating two applicants as soccer recruits to get them admitted.
According to the school, one applicant was rejected despite Meredith's endorsement, but the other was granted admission.
"Yale investigated the allegations, and the admission of the student who received a fraudulent endorsement has been rescinded," the school said in a statement posted to its website.
The school did not disclose the student's identity due to federal privacy laws and university policy.
According to the indictment, the family of the admitted student paid $1.2 million to William “Rick” Singer, the ringleader of the admissions operation, who sent Meredith a $400,000 check.
In exchange, the coach helped to falsely present her as a competitive soccer player, including lying that she was co-captain of a prominent soccer club.
In a letter on Tuesday, Yale President Peter Salovey said the school had confirmed that "all enrolled Yale students who were admitted with an athletic endorsement played at least one season on their varsity sports team," with the exception of the student whose admission was rescinded.
Going forward, all prospective students who receive the endorsement of a coach will have their athletic credentials confirmed by the Athletics Department, Salovey said.
Yale said Tuesday that the Department of Education has launched a preliminary investigation into the college and seven other schools as part of the scandal.