A former Stanford University admissions officer has challenged Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch’s long-standing claim that she once secured an offer to study pre-med at the elite California institution.
For years, Badenoch has referenced the supposed offer as part of her personal story, often pointing to it as proof of her parents’ financial struggles despite her academic achievements.
In a 2017 interview with the Huffington Post, she said, “I had actually got admission into medical school in the US – I got into Stanford pre-med – and I got into medical school in Nigeria, but I came here (the UK) because being a citizen, it was just a lot cheaper.”
The claim resurfaced in other outlets. The Times reported last year that “At 16, her US SAT scores won her a partial pre-med scholarship to Stanford, but her family still couldn’t afford the place.”
But Stanford’s own website states the university does not offer a pre-med major, saying: “For any of the health professions, you may major in any discipline.”
Jon Reider, who served as Stanford’s admissions officer overseeing international applications and financial aid at the time, disputed Badenoch’s account.
“Although 30 years have passed, I would definitely remember if we had admitted a Nigerian student with any financial aid,” Reider told The Guardian UK. “The answer is that we did not do so.”
“I assure you that we would not have admitted a student based on test scores alone, nor would we have mailed an invitation to apply to any overseas students based on test scores. O-levels would not have been sufficient, and we would have been very nervous admitting a 16-year-old. She would have had to have an extraordinary record.”
He also rejected the idea that Badenoch was offered a partial scholarship but could not afford to attend.
“If an applicant needed, say, $30,000 a year to attend Stanford, we would offer them the full amount,” Reider said. “There was no point in offering them less because they would not have been able to attend. If we admitted them, we wanted them to enrol.”
Reider emphasized that his admission decisions were never overruled by senior officials.
“None of my decisions as the admission officer was overruled by any of the deans whom I worked for,” he said.
