Dr. Phil Spells Out What College Admissions Scandal Is Really All About

Phil McGraw, host of the “Dr. Phil” TV talk show, doesn’t think parents snared in the college admissions bribery scandal were really trying to benefit their children.

“They’re not buying their kids an education, that’s not what it’s about. I don’t think it has anything to do with the education,” McGraw said in an interview with People Now this week.

Instead, for the well-heeled parents charged in the plot, prestigious school spots for their offspring were simply “jewelry for a lot of these people,” McGraw said.

“Kids are leaving high school, they don’t want to say ‘my kids are going to the junior college,’” said McGraw. He said the parents would much rather boast about their children “going to Harvard, my kid’s going to USC, Yale.”

“I think it’s bragging rights for them,” he added.

Dozens of people, including “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman and “Full House” star Lori Loughlin, have been charged in the scandal.

Huffman has agreed to plead guilty and will appear in court on May 21.

Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have pleaded not guilty.

Check out the clip above and the full interview below:

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.