Name: WSJ Reporter Melissa Korn Discusses the “Varsity Blues” College Admissions Scandal by EAB in Office Hours with EAB
Duration: 31 min 25 s
Description: Melissa Korn from The Wall Street Journal talks about her new book, “Unacceptable,” an in-depth examination of last year’s “Varsity Blues” bribery and admissions scandal.

Office Hours with EAB

EAB’s Ed Venit hosts a conversation with Knack CEO and co-founder Samyr Qureshi, who shares how institutions can build a peer tutoring strategy to fill gaps in academic support services. The two discuss how Knack’s approach helps institutions recruit, train, and compensate student tutors. They also explain how a student-led tutoring model can help scale up support infrastructure and reach more at-risk students with after-hours and virtual tutoring sessions.

How to Empower Student Success Through Peer Tutoring

EAB’s Beth Donaldson and Val Fox unpack findings from our latest benchmarking survey of graduate enrollment leaders. The findings highlight a significant disconnect between the graduate enrollment goals being set by university leaders and the market realities confronting those charged with recruiting adult learners. Val and Beth offer advice to admissions teams on how to invest limited marketing dollars to generate the maximum number of leads, applications, and matriculants.

How Graduate Enrollment Teams Are Adapting

EAB’s Camilla Arias and Pam Royall sit down with global higher education consultant Donald Resnik to unpack key findings from the latest EAB-NAGAP survey of nearly 600 graduate enrollment professionals. Their conversation examines the widening gap between enrollment expectations and the staffing and budget resources available to meet them. The three also touch on areas that GEM professionals consider positive trends, including the growth of corporate partnerships. 

Under Pressure: Grad Enrollment Pros Sound Off

EAB’s Jennifer Lerner sits down with the authors of “The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook” to explore the evolving and increasingly strategic role of the Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO). The conversation delves into the key competencies that define effective digital leadership in today’s academic landscape. Our guests, Thomas Cavanagh and Jocelyn Widmer, also unpack the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of online learning. 

The Rise of the Chief Online Learning Officer

Student expectations keep rising, yet too many recruitment marketing campaigns still read like mass emails. In this episode, EAB’s Michael Koppenheffer and Ryan Gardner-Cook outline a four-stage roadmap for hyper-personalizing the recruitment journey. and identify the student data required to power each step. You’ll hear where to start, the kinds of student data needed, how to design meaningful tests, and the pitfalls to avoid so you can replace “spray-and-pray” blasts with personalized recruitment experiences that scale.

Is Hyper-Personalization the Key to Enrollment Marketing?

EAB financial aid experts, Brett Schraeder and Kathy Ruby explore what’s ahead as FAFSA 2026 updates roll out alongside sweeping changes from the Big Beautiful Bill. Their conversation covers the elimination of Grad PLUS loans, new limits on Parent PLUS, the introduction of Workforce Pell Grants, and a revamped repayment plan. They also share insights on how institutions can adapt their aid strategies and strengthen communication with students and families.

Will the BBB Put the Big Chill on Student Borrowing?

EAB’s Christine Doci and Lars Waldo discuss ways that AI is helping universities manage and access fragmented IT systems. The two discuss the shortcomings of early data warehousing efforts and offer tips on how to use AI to organize and accelerate access to data without compromising privacy or governance constraints. 

Is Your Campus Data AI-Ready?

EAB’s Beth Donaldson and Todd Heilman examine ways that graduate admissions leaders are adjusting to the steep drop in foreign enrollments. The two suggest strategies designed to strengthen domestic student recruitment, differentiate your institution from competitors, and contend with the giants of online graduate education.

Are Grad Schools Entering Survival Mode?

EAB’s Meghan Ondrish and JP Lafors review ways that AI-enabled search is reshaping the way digital teams create and structure content for .edu websites. Meghan and JP discuss how institutions should adapt search engine optimization to ensure their web content remains visible and prominent as search behaviors evolve. The two also explain the metrics that matter most when assessing how prospective applicants interact with your institution online.

How to Optimize Web Content for AI-Powered Search

Carla Hickman and Dr. David Attis discuss the immediate effects of COVID-19 on higher ed, as well as long-term impacts on enrollment and multi-modal learning.

The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Higher Ed

EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney and Michael Fischer talk about why the CARES Act really isn’t a stimulus package for higher ed at all, but a stop-gap measure that may not keep at-risk colleges and universities afloat long enough to survive the current crisis.

Will the CARES Act Save Higher Ed?

In part one of this two-part discussion, EAB experts share four reasons why the coronavirus pandemic is a different type of crisis than any faced by higher ed before—and discuss effective leadership in an extended crisis.

4 Unique Leadership Challenges Posed by the Pandemic

EAB experts Melanie Ho and Michael Fischer continue their discussion on the unique leadership challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

How Colleges Can Plan for and Adapt to Campus Crises

EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney and Michael Fischer discuss how colleges and universities have handled crisis communications during the early days of the pandemic.

The Best (and Worst) COVID-19 Crisis Communications

Melissa Korn from The Wall Street Journal talks about her new book, “Unacceptable,” an in-depth examination of last year’s “Varsity Blues” bribery and admissions scandal.

WSJ Reporter Melissa Korn Discusses the “Varsity Blues” College Admissions Scandal

A new podcast from EAB experts to share ideas, insight, and inspiration with higher ed leaders

WSJ Reporter Melissa Korn Discusses the “Varsity Blues” College Admissions Scandal

EAB

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