From Today's WSJ:
Temple University’s M.B.A. Ranking Scandal Spreads
Fox School of Business reported false student data to U.S. News & World Report for a range of business degrees it offers
By Kelsey Gee ▲
July 25, 2018 7:08 p.m. ET
Temple University officials said Wednesday that its business school submitted more incorrect data used in academic rankings of its M.B.A. programs than previously disclosed.
Temple previously admitted to sending false student data and outcome information about its online M.B.A. program to U.S. News & World Report. Now the university says that false test-score data and student-loan debt figures were submitted for other programs at the Fox School of Business, including its flagship two-year M.B.A., the executive M.B.A., two specialized master’s degrees and an online bachelor’s degree in business.
“As a result, we have reported to U.S. News that we cannot verify data related to these programs, and we are not participating in or submitting business school surveys at this time,” said Richard Englert, president of Temple University.
The school said several business degrees it offers had one or more metrics that were misreported to the news outlet. Academic rankings like those published by U.S. News are one of the most important considerations for students trying to decide where to apply to graduate school, especially as the number and varieties of professional degrees have proliferated.
Temple’s online M.B.A. program, which costs roughly $60,000, had been top ranked by U.S. News for four years, including 2018. Fox launched its online M.B.A. in 2009, making it one of the early entrants into the market for such diplomas.
U.S. News revised Fox’s position to “unranked” after being notified earlier this year by school staff of the inaccuracies. The publication didn’t immediately return requests for comment about how Fox’s other rankings may be affected.
Previously, U.S. News editor Brian Kelly said, “As the only organization that collects data at the program-level for online degrees, U.S. News & World Report relies on schools to provide accurate information.”
The M.B.A. ranking controversy has been brewing for months and the school is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education and Pennsylvania attorney general’s consumer protection office. The 22-year dean of Fox business school, Moshe Porat, was ousted in early July after an internal investigation found employees had inflated student test scores and grade point averages used in calculating the closely watched online M.B.A. ranking.
“We want all the members of the university community to know that, with respect to the misreporting of information at the Fox School, you had a right to expect this information would be accurate and honest,” Mr. Englert said in a statement. “We deeply regret that this didn’t happen. We will do more than own this problem. We will fix it. And none of this takes away from the quality education that our Fox School students receive, or from the excellent teaching and research of its faculty.”
The revelation that more false data was provided than previously reported follows news that the U.S. Department of Education is looking into the case.
In a May 24 letter that was obtained by The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, federal student-loan investigator Nancy Rosario requested student records from Temple, as well as copies of Fox School advertisements for its M.B.A. programs to prospective students, including school brochures and online materials.
The Education Department’s investigative unit looks at whether federal student loans and grants from taxpayer dollars have been improperly used to fund school programs, or whether students were misled in deciding where to attend, according to a person familiar with its practices. Past consequences for such violations have included reimbursing student tuition costs and steep fines, including a $30 million penalty for one school, among other enforcement actions against for-profit schools.
The agency began its investigation after learning that an online M.B.A. student had filed a lawsuit alleging that Fox School administrators had engaged in fraud and deceptive business practices, according to the letter.
A spokesman for the Education Department called the investigation “ongoing” but declined to comment on it further.
“In addition to verifying the data provided to U.S. News, we are also responding to ongoing inquiries from the U.S. Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office,” Mr. Englert said. “We are updating them as new information develops.”
On Monday Fox appointed finance professor Ronald Anderson as interim dean of the business school, a role he will likely hold for two years, the school said. A nationwide search for a permanent Fox leader will be conducted during the 2019-2020 academic year, the school said.
