Illinois Releases Final Report on Admissions Data Rankings Scandal

The University of Illinois College of Law today released a 119-page final report of an investigation into its submission of phony LSAT medians, GPA medians, and acceptance rates to inflate its U.S. News ranking:

As detailed in this Report, the University of Illinois College of Law (“COL”) disseminated inaccurate class profile information in six out of the ten years reviewed. The inaccurate information related to undergraduate grade point averages (“GPA”), Law School Admission Test (“LSAT”) scores, and acceptance rates. Underlying this information were unjustified changes to the GPAs and LSAT scores of individual students and other data manipulation. A single COL employee, who resigned during the course of this investigation, was responsible for this data manipulation. At a minimum, this former employee exhibited gross incompetence in the performance of his job duties. Moreover, the investigative record supports the conclusion that with respect to certain COL classes, the former employee knowingly and intentionally changed and manipulated data in order to inflate GPA and LSAT statistics and decrease acceptance rates.

This Report sets forth recommendations that address this conduct and the lack of internal controls that contributed to COL’s failure to prevent and quickly detect the inaccuracies. Effective implementation of these recommendations should help COL avoid the recurrence of similar data and compliance concerns. Finally, the Report includes assessments of certain other COL data—namely, scholarship funds, career placement, and bar passage rates—and concludes that there is no indication of inaccuracies or irregularities in any of these areas but that additional analysis would be necessary to fully verify the accuracy of the scholarship and placement data. 

Press release

Board of Trustees Chairman Christopher Kennedy's statement

President Michael Hogan's statement

Vice President and Chancellor Phyllis Wise's statement

Dean Bruce Smith's statement

Final report executive summary [PDF]

Final report [PDF]

Appendices 1-75 [PDF]

Appendices 76-80 [PDF]

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Did Illinois Inflate LSAT (168), GPA (3.81) Medians to Goose U.S. News Ranking? (Sept. 12, 2011)
• Illinois Bombshell: Class of 2014 Median LSAT/GPA Is 163/3.70, Not 168/3.81 (Sept. 19, 2011)
• Illinois Reported Inflated LSAT, GPA Medians for Past Four Years (Sept. 28, 2011)
• U.S. News Won't Redo Rankings Despite Illinois Reporting False LSAT/GPA Data (Sept. 30, 2011)
• A Call to Audit Law School Admissions Data (Oct. 5, 2011)

Update:

• ABA Journal, U of Illinois Law School Admits To Six Years of False LSAT/GPA Data
• Above the Law, Illinois Law and the Lone Gunman Theory of Admissions Fraud
• National Law Journal, Illinois Blames Fudged Data on a Single Administrator
• WSJ Law Blog, U. of Ill. Says Assistant Dean Fudged Admissions Data