Temple University’s Fox School of Business is under the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Education for providing false data to U.S. News & World Report, a ranking organization about its Online MBA program.
The online MBA students could get their federal loans forgiven under the “borrower defense” provision if the Department finds the business school at fault, the Inquirer reported.
Earlier in January this year, the university had engaged a law firm to conduct a comprehensive review of rankings data and processes after it found out that the school had submitted inaccurate data regarding the percentage of incoming MBA students who had provided GMAT and GRE scores as part of the enrollment process. The school was later unranked by the organization.
Kyle Smith, a Fox school graduate student in February sued the university for using fraudulent and deceptive business practices.
On July 9, earlier this month, university’s President, Richard M. Englert while announcing the completion of the review said that the school has also overstated the average undergraduate GPA, and there were inaccuracies in the number of offers of admission as well as in the degree of student indebtedness.
He also alleged Dean Moshe Porat of knowingly providing the false information and asked him to step down.
“It was the dean’s initiative to disband a longstanding committee charged with ensuring the accuracy of rankings data. This absence of checks and balances, together with an undue focus on rankings, enabled such misreporting,” Englert said in a letter to the Temple community.
On July 13, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has also launched a probe into the allegations against the university.
