In the expensive and totally legal world of academic consultants

"It's just that a lot of critics have not been helpful," he said.

Professor Redding, of Harvard, is concerned that this week's focus on the issue casts a negative light on the entire college-based consulting sector, which she said had increased over the past few years. last years to control itself.

"There are a lot of good actors here who are eclipsed in a case like this," she said.

The research group IBISWorld estimates that the annual turnover of the sector in 2018 amounts to 1.9 billion dollars.

Stefanie Niles, president of the National Association for College Admissions, said the allegations were an "extreme response to the commodification of the college admissions process."

The growth in private counseling is due in part to the shortage of guidance counselors in public schools. During the 2015-2016 school year, each public school counselor was responsible for an average of 470 students, according to the group.

There is a wide range of prices on the ground. In Boca Raton, Florida, Naomi Steinberg runs an "upscale boutique" where the college planning process, which has been going on for years, often begins in grade 9 and can cost $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 to families.

"You are trying to make sense of a system that can not be understood," she said.

Mr. Mercer, a consultant from Santa Monica, works in the sector: he asks between $ 300 and $ 7,000, depending on the needs of the student and the beginning of his hiring process. Previously, he had worked at the admissions office of the University of Southern California and was shocked that the school was included in the federal indictment.

Although the extreme behavior described by federal prosecutors this week may cause concern among families who intend to abide by the rules, Mr. Mercer said his message would remain the same: the brand name of a college Imported a lot less fit for a student.

Nevertheless, he acknowledged: "Such sums of money, these people and these schemes? It's not just a little bit. It's embarrbading for all of us on the ground. "