. >> reporter: whistle blower mary willingham, tutor to athletes, said unc had not owned up to the fullc immediately tried to shut her down, attacking her credibility. >> it wasn't just my colleagues in the athletic department that were mad at me, angry with me. >> reporter: now an independent report confirms her claims that many people knew about the fraud and it lasted for many years than what originally thought. >> glaring oversights in the report. >> reporter: 3,100 students took so-called paper classes. students never had to go to class, only write a paper. and they always received a good grade. counselors steered the athletes to the classes so they could remain eligible to play. >> they were, in their terms, gpa boosters. they knew that these were classes that gave disproportionately high grades, regardless of quality. >> the university had previously said the paper classes were the work of one rogue professor, head of the afro-american studies program, but the report says it's actually his assistant, debbie crowder, who mastermind the whole system out of sympathy for students who

this is validation for mary willingham for sure.o her a few minutes ago and she actually gave a lot of credit to the new chancellor here on campus, carol folt. take a list on what carol said yesterday. >> it was an inexcusable betrayal of our values and our mission and our students' trust. the length of time that this behavior went on and the number of people involved is really shocking. it was a wrongdoing that could have and should have been stopped much earlier by individuals who were in positions of influence and oversight. many could have sounded the alarm more forcefully. >> reporter: so, you know, there's been a lot of frustration a lot of anger here on campus that the way the university responded to this. there's a feeling that because they dragged this out and wouldn't admit to it, wouldn't look into it for so long, that this dragged out and this is five years later. a whole entire class went through this university dealing with the scandal. there is a feeling, though, here today on campus that at least they know now, that

. >> reporter: whistle-blower mary willingham told cnn in january that u this. not owned up to the full scope of the scandal. unc immediately tried to shut her down. >> it wasn't just my colleagues in the athletic department that were angry with me, it was the b.o.t., the board of trustees that were so angry with me. >> reporter: now her claims have been backed up. >> there were glaring deficiencies in oversight. >> reporter: an independent report found that 3100 students took the paper classes. students never had to go to class. only write a single paper and always received a good grade. they stayed eligible the play. this shows a basketball coach suggesting a grade. the paper was, quote, recycled. another e-mail shows one ath heat was only taking quote, two real courses. >> in their terms they were gpa boosters. they knew these were classes that gave disproportionately high grades regardless of quality. >> reporter: they say it was the work of one rogue professor, but the report says it's actually his assistant, debbie crowder who masterminded the whole sit ti

. >> reporter: whistle-blower mary willingham, a tutor to athletes, told cnn in january that unc had not owned up to the full scope of the scandal. unc immediately tried to shut her down, attacking her credibility. >> it wasn't just my colleagues in the athletic department that were mad at me, angry with me. it was the b.o.t., the board of trustees that was so angry with me. >> reporter: now an independent report has confirmed her claims that many people knew about the fraud and that it lasted for more years than originally thought. >> they were glaring deficiencies in overnight. >> reporter: an independent report commissioned by unc found that 3,100 students took so-called paper classes, students never had to go to class, only write a paper and they always received a good grade. counselors steered the athletes to the classes so they could remain eligible to play. >> they were, in their terms, gpa boosters. they knew these were classes that gave disproportionately high grades regardless of quality. >> reporter: the university had previously said the paper classes were the work of one

. >> at the university of north carolinaç learning specialist mary willingham was baff emed by what america's most prestigious schools.ç >> they're coming in with reading levels of 4 to 6 grade, there is even some who are reading below a fourth grade level. >> you are saying that some kids who were admitted to the university of north carolina, one of the best public colleges in america, with a fourth grade or even in some cases lower than a fourth grade reading level? >> that's correct. makes it pretty hard to go to college, doesn't it. >> reporter: you would think. and for many years the ncaa incoming athletes couldrance handle college work. requiring them to score a certain level on standardized tests likethe sat or the act. but in 2003, that rule was revoked. colleges could now put athletes on the football field or basketball court no matter how they did on the tests. and soon the term college education began to take on a whole new meaning. >> i worked with letters and sounds with some basketball players and some football players. >> reporter: give me a demonstration, letters a

the news has this prestigious school and its proud alumni reeling, it comes as no surprise to mary willingham at carolina and across the country that are not getting the real education we're promising them. >> you're watching cnn. i'm going to be back in one hour. my kol leak erro burnett will continue the coverage next after a quick break. 12 mice, faster than d-con. what will we do with all of these dead mice? tomcat presents dead mouse theatre. hey, ulfrik! hey, agnar! what's up with you? funny you ask. i'm actually here to pillage your town. [ villagers screaming ] but we went to summer camp together. summer camp is over. ♪ [ male announcer ] tomcat. [ cat meows ] [ male announcer ] engineered to kill. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in

what kind of information they're looking for, but i can say that the book "cheaters" written by mary willingham be out and it will cover anything left out from this investigation. so i'm looking forward to that book being released? >> you said you made the dean's list in 2005 despite not attending any of the class which is you might straight a's in. at the time, didn't you find that strange? >> oh, most definitely. but at the same time as an athlete we weren't really there for an education, we were there to enhance in our athletic abilities. as an athlete you get a scholarship to the university to play basketball and they didn't steer us in the direction of educational enhance mement so i wasn't that i wasn't capable of making it, it was that i clearly didn't go to any classes. >> so what did you do instead? >> i mean, usually we worked on the play book or worked out and usually sleep in until there was practice. >> was it one professor involved? more than one professor? >> in this particular case it's more about the system. it's not really about who is involved. it's the system is available fo