Emory University misrepresented student data

Laura Diamond:

Emory University intentionally misreported data about its students for at least 12 years to groups that rank colleges, President Jim Wagner said Friday.

The deception meant that U.S. News & World Report, Peterson's and others that have long ranked Emory as one of the nation's top colleges did so with inflated data. Students and their families rely heavily on these rankings when deciding where to apply and enroll.

"They cooked the books and lied to students who think the university is better than it is," said Mark Schneider, vice president for new education initiatives with the American Institutes for Research. "What we are talking about is a violation of consumer choice."

Prestigious Emory University intentionally misreported student data to rankings magazines for more than a decade, the Atlanta school disclosed Friday, adding its high-profile name to a growing list of institutions caught up in scandals over rankings pressure.

As far back as 2000, Emory's admissions and institutional research offices overstated SAT and ACT scores by reporting the higher average tallies of admitted students, rather than those enrolled, as is required, president Jim Wagner announced in a letter to the university community. Those figures were reported to organizations including college rankers, the most prominent of which is US News & World Report.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 19, 2012 2:30 AM
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