The College of Law dropped 12 spots to No. 35 in the latest U.S. News and World Report’s rankings for the best law schools. This drop comes after a admissions dean systematically manipulated LSAT scores and GPAs for years, according to an external investigation.
The University, along with two outside firms, issued a report in November that concluded that Paul Pless, then assistant dean of the college, was the sole actor in altering data to make the school seem more academically accomplished than it was.
While the college took a hit in the rankings — something that was a top priority for the school to attract students — campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the campus is confident that the college will continue to be recognized among the nation’s top schools.
“Fall 2011 was a challenging period for the College of Law, but its defining attribute — its track record of producing great lawyers — has never been stronger,” she said in a statement.
This may not be the only repercussion from the fallout. The American Bar Association, or ABA, the accrediting organization for law schools, has conducted its own investigation into the scores and could impose sanctions on the college. In this case, over six years of manipulated data was sent to the ABA.
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While the College of Law has been dealing with these issues the College of Business’ MBA program tied for No. 37, the same ranking it received last year.
Terry McCabe, Assistant Dean of the College of Business, recognized the combined importance of the college’s ranking and its outreach to prospective students.
“Slight changes in position in the ranking do not have a strong correlation to enrollment,” McCabe said. “The quality of our students is reflective of the quality of our programs and our recruiting efforts, which go far beyond what U.S. News and World Report would publish as a ranking.”
The ranking of schools in the yearly U.S. news report is based on a number of “factors”:http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2012/01/02/about-the-us-news-education-rankings-methodologies including assessment by established professionals in the field, student test scores (LSAT and GMAT), GPA and acceptance rates.
Further rankings for the University of Illinois and its graduate programs can be found on the “U.S. News website”:http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/uiuc-1775.
