 For three of those classes, the inaccurate information was also
forwarded to the American Bar Association and to ranking
organizations, such as the influential U.S. News & World Report,
university spokesman Tom Hardy said. The snapshot data of law school
students is often used to attract future students, among other
things.The university hired an outside law firm and a forensic
data analysis company to investigate after receiving complaints and
finding that the data posted online for the class of 2014 was
inaccurate. Investigators have looked at the data for the 10 most
recent law school classes and found inaccurate Law School Admissions
Test and GPA scores posted in online student profiles for the
classes of 2011 through 2014, Hardy said. The inaccurate data
forwarded to the association and ranking groups was for the classes
of 2011-2013, he said.
"We've taken the 10-year period of time, looked at all those
years, found that, with the exception of the last four classes,
everything was as it should be," he said. "Meanwhile, the
investigation isn't complete. (But) I think we're getting near the
end."
The oldest data, posted shortly after the class of 2011 enrolled,
has been online since 2009, Hardy said.
The university is talking to both the bar association and ranking
organizations, Hardy said.
Messages left with the bar association were not returned. Earlier
this year, the association censured the law school at Villanova
University for submitting falsified admissions data for several
years.
University of Illinois President Michael Hogan called the posting
of inflated student scores in online class profiles "absolutely
unacceptable."
"The university, the campus and the College of Law place the
highest priority on accuracy and integrity, and we will take
measures to ensure that this never happens again," Hogan said in a
news release.
[to top of second column] |
Bob Morse is director of data research at U.S. News & World
Report and in charge of the magazine's widely read academic
rankings. He said he hopes Illinois' misstep serves as a deterrent.
"That you have to admit publicly that you did this is
embarrassing to the school and hopefully will have a dampening
effect on others that do this," he said.
LSAT scores and GPAs of enrolled classes are among the factors
the magazine considers in its rankings. It's too early to tell
whether the inflated data will affect Illinois' ranking, Morse said,
but the school won't immediately be re-ranked.
The discrepancies between actual and real data reported by
Villanova were greater than the information reported by Illinois,
Morse said, but Villanova's ranking fell from 67th in the country to
84th.
Illinois is currently 23rd on the magazine's list of law schools,
fifth among Big Ten schools, and new rankings aren't due out until
next spring. Yale has the nation's top-ranked law school.
Hardy said the university plans to release a report with its
findings on the law school data after the investigation is complete.
College of Law admissions dean Paul Pless was placed on leave
earlier this month, and his status hasn't changed, Hardy said.
[Associated Press;
By DAVID MERCER]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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