The people who facilitated the acceptance of non-athletic students into a few places set aside for athletic exceptions were the coaches, working with facilitators who knew about those openings. Those coaches and the facilitators got the bribes. Unless athletes in tennis, sailing, etc., (those obscure university sports) were crowded out because rich kids sneaked in that side door, no one else should be eligible for compensation. Why would they be?

Part of the problem is how the status schools attract this kind of abuse through their various athletics programs - rich people should realize their children can get excellent educations at other public institutions (though UCLA is a public facility and it was one named). But the big sports schools (with rich alumni) were the most vulnerable. On NPR (National Public Radio) today they talked about it - how those rich kids did displace poor kids who might have gotten a full ride at a private university.

Another problem may be that students who got in the usual way, based on the application process, may feel that their degrees are tarnished. There are a couple of instances of that in our family, good students at big-name schools that are now in the news because of a scandal. Everyone loses. It's the money changing hands that makes it a crime.