Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, attended Harvard University as an undergraduate
The scandal involving dozens of wealthy parents including actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman who allegedly paid bribes so that their children can be admitted to top universities has triggered renewed interest in Jared Kushner’s acceptance into Harvard.
Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, is the son of New Jersey real estate magnate Charles Kushner.
In 2016, when it appeared that Jared Kushner would join the incoming Trump administration, the public took an interest in the circumstances of his college acceptance.
It turns out that Kushner, the husband of Ivanka Trump, was admitted into Harvard shortly after his father pledged a $2.5million donation to the university, according to ProPublica.
Daniel Golden, the author of The Price of Admission, revealed that Kushner was accepted despite the fact that administrators at his high school said he was a less-than-stellar student.
‘There was no way anybody in the administrative office of the school thought he would on the merits get into Harvard,’ a former administrator at The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey said.
‘His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it.
‘We thought for sure, there was no way this was going to happen.
‘Then, lo and behold, Jared was accepted.
‘It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not.’
Kushner was admitted into Harvard despite ‘less-than-stellar’ grades, according to author Daniel Golden. He gained acceptance after his father, real estate mogul Charles Kushner (left), pledged $2.5million to the university, it has been claimed
A spokesperson for Kushner Companies said in 2016 that ‘the allegation’ Charles Kushner’s donation to Harvard played a role in Jared’s acceptance ‘is and always has been false.’
Kushner’s parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner, ‘are enormously generous and have donated over 100 million dollars to universities, hospitals and other charitable causes,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Jared Kushner was an excellent student in high school and graduated from Harvard with honors.’
Golden’s research revealed that Charles Kushner and his wife were members of Harvard’s Committee on University Resources, a body made up of some of the university’s most generous donors.
Charles Kushner was a member even though he had never attended Harvard as a student. The real estate mogul is a graduate of New York University.
Curiously, both of Kushner’s sons, Jared and Joshua, managed to gain acceptance into Harvard.
Joshua Kushner is an entrepreneur who is married to supermodel Karlie Kloss.
Golden’s research revealed that Charles Kushner and his wife were members of Harvard’s Committee on University Resources, a body made up of some of the university’s most generous donors. Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is seen above
Through his research, Golden also revealed that more than half of those on the 400-plus member committee had sent at least one child to Harvard.
The university has refused to comment on the matter.
Nearly 50 people, including actors Huffman and Loughlin were charged on Tuesday in what federal authorities say was a $25million scam to help wealthy Americans get their children into elite universities like Yale and Stanford.
The most sweeping college admissions fraud scheme ever unearthed in the United States was masterminded at a small college-preparation company based in Newport Beach, California, prosecutors said.
It relied on bribes to coaches, phony test takers and even doctored photos misrepresenting non-athletic applicants as elite competitors to gain admissions for the offspring of rich parents.
‘These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege,’ Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney in Boston, said at a news conference.
‘For every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected.’
William ‘Rick’ Singer, 58, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges related to running the scheme through his Edge College & Career Network, which charged from $100,000 to as much as $2.5million per child for the services, which were masked as contributions to a scam charity Singer runs.