In case you didn’t know, the US is currently taking a long, hard look at its college entrance system, and how the rich, powerful and connected have been gaming the system.

You know, the exact same way it’s always worked.

Some of the details that have come to light during the investigation (dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues”) are outrageous, and the fact that Full House star Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame are caught up on the scandal has helped it grab headlines.

Before we go to the video, let’s get the basics from Vulture:

According to the indictment, which was made public on March 12, there are two distinct parts to this alleged scheme. The first is that parents supposedly paid an admissions consultant by the name of William Rick Singer (he’s the founder of a nonprofit college-prep company, the Key, in Newport Beach, California) to bribe coaches at select schools to help recruit students into sports programs despite not having any proven athletic ability. It’s estimated that Singer, 58, was being paid an estimated $25 million for his “services,” which fell under a purported charity.

The second part of the indictment accuses test-prep moderators of accepting bribes by Singer to correct student’s answers on ACT and SAT entrance exams.

As it stands, about 50 people, more than 30 of whom are parents, have been indicted, and it’s been dubbed the biggest bribery scandal in college history.

You can read the rest of that in-depth Vulture analysis here.

Right, time for the VICE video explainer.

It’s spurred by “Operation Varsity Blues”, but it deals with the larger problems at play in the US college admissions system:

Looks like the system could do with an overhaul, but we won’t hold our breaths.

Our man Trevor Noah also poked fun at the scandal on The Daily Show, and you can see his more humorous take below:

[sources:vulture&vice]