It’s becoming clear that the college admissions process is riddled with corruption.

A former Delaware State University (DSU) official pleaded guilty to taking over $70,000 in bribes in a scheme to help give out-of-state students in-state tuition, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday.

Crystal Martin, a former registrar at the school, pleaded guilty to one felony count of bribery and could face as many as 10 years behind bars for her part in the scheme that cost the university an estimated $3 million.

“The defendant abused her position at a public university to personally profit and to defraud her employer,’’ U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a statement. “Individuals who accept bribes while serving in a public capacity risk undermining trust in those institutions.’’

This is partially a consequence of the inflated cost of higher education coupled with the societal conception that a college degree is vital for a successful career. If you make a college degree the only ticket to financial security (or perceived that way) and then jack up the cost of getting it, people are going to do whatever they think is necessary to get it.