Dive Summary:
- George Washington University admitted Thursday to reporting false data about its new students on both its website and to the U.S. News & World Report for at least the last 10 years, joining Claremont McKenna College and Emory University as the third private university this year to make such an admission.
- For its most recent incoming class, the school reported that 78% of new students were in the top 10% of their high school classes--20% higher than the actual proportion of 58%--and the school says this problem arose from the practice of using grades and other factors to estimate class ranks for students who attended high schools that don't calculate them--a practice not permitted by U.S. News.
- Forrest Maltzman, George Washington University's senior vice provost in charge of overseeing admissions since July, said that he is confident that the person who instituted the practice is no longer in a position of authority in the admissions office, and the school has since instituted new rules requiring that the Office of Academic Planning and Assessment handle information requests from groups that rank colleges.
From the article:
George Washington University on Thursday became the third private university this year to admit that it has been reporting incorrect information about its new students -- both on the university's website and in information provided to U.S. News & World Report for rankings. In the case of GW, the university -- for at least a decade -- has been submitting incorrect data on the class rank of new students. For the most recent class of new students, George Washington reported that 78 percent of new students were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The actual proportion of such students is 58 percent. ...