TYLER, Texas — On Wednesday, federal authorities uncovered a college admissions scam they are calling the biggest to ever be prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department during an investigation they called “Operation Varsity Blues.”
READ MORE: Actresses Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin among many charged in college admissions cheating case
Celebrities and business leaders are among 50 people who face criminal charges and more arrests could come in the weeks and months ahead.
Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman are among dozens of wealthy parents accused of paying an admissions consultant to bribe coaches and administrators to falsely make their children look like star athletes, which in turn would boost their chances of getting into college.
The consultant also hired "ringers" to take college entrance exams for students and paid off insiders at testing centers to alter students' scores.
Federal authorities say University of Texas men’s tennis coach Michael Center took a $100,000 bribe in 2015 to help a student who did not play competitive tennis get admitted to UT.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott says these allegations are concerning and encouraged colleges throughout the state to take initiative in combatting this type of corruption.
"As far as the University of Texas is concerned, but I will expand this to every university in the state of Texas, it’s important for every university to go back and reevaluate, to study, and to investigate their admissions processes to make sure that nothing like this either is happening, or can happen," Abbott explained.
In East Texas, UT Tyler released a statement concerning the scandal to CBS19 Wednesday afternoon:
“UT Tyler believes in a fair admissions process. We comply with The University of Texas system rules on undue influence. We will coordinate with [the] UT System to make sure the concerns of the governor are addressed.”
According the University of Texas System’s official "Best Practices for Admissions":
“The integrity of the admissions processes at the University of Texas System institutions depends upon the unbiased determination of the appropriate merits of each applicant.”