The Stunning Rankings Scandal at Temple

The reports of falsehoods started in January, when U.S. News & World Report said that Temple University's online M.B.A. program was being stripped of its rankings because it had reported that 100 percent of its online M.B.A. students had submitted standardized test scores, when in reality only 20 percent had done so. Score averages count for less in the U.S. News methodology when fewer than 75 percent of students have taken standardized tests.

Then the website Poets & Quants noted that Temple had claimed 100 percent test taking for its online students for four years -- and been the top-rated online M.B.A. program in each of those years. Because Temple's online M.B.A. does not require standardized tests of applicants, the 100 percent figure seemed unlikely to many. Temple promised an outside investigation and hired a prominent law firm, Jones Day, to conduct one.

Among the findings released last week:

• For ranking years 2015 through 2018 (typically with data coming from the prior year's new students), Temple's reports that all admitted applicants had taken the Graduate Management Admission Test were wrong. The actual number was "significantly lower" than the 100 percent figure given. U.S. News asks business schools to report both GMAT and Graduate Record Exam scores (as some business school applicants take the GRE). Temple just converted GRE scores (which were supposed to be provided with breakdowns on various parts of the exam) into GMAT scores, and said that no applicants took the GRE. The Jones Day report indicated that, at one point, U.S. News raised questions about the 100 percent test-taking applicants, but did not pursue the issue when Temple provided more false information.
• For ranking years 2015 through 2018, undergraduate grade point averages were "inflated through use of various methods." One of those methods was to take GPAs listed as a 1/100 value and improving them to the "next highest" 1/10 value. As an example, the Jones Day report said that this would mean reporting 3.22 as 3.3. U.S. News asked business schools to report mean GPAs, but Temple sometimes gave the mean and sometimes the median (using the inflated statistics either way).
• For ranking years 2017 and 2018, Temple underreported the number of admissions offers, implying that the program was more selective than was the case.
• For ranking years 2016 through 2018, Temple provided false information about debt. U.S. News asks business schools for the average debt among graduates who borrow. Temple reported instead the average for all graduates, thus lowering the average debt level.
• For ranking years 2016 through 2018, Temple counted both faculty members and "academic coaches" in a formula to determine student-faculty ratio.

Much of the blame in the report goes to an unidentified employee charged with preparing rankings material. That employee, the Jones Day report said, "knowingly misreported data" and "allegedly did so at the dean’s direction in the presence of another employee. The dean and the other employee deny that such direction was given."

Porat, the now former Temple dean, did not respond to an email request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.

A Temple spokesman said that Porat, as a tenured faculty member, has the right to return to teaching at the business school. Porat had been dean since 1996. In 2001, the Academy of International Business selected him as the 2001 International Dean of the Year.

A Culture Focused on Rankings

Regardless of whether Porat authorized the fabrications, Temple and the Jones Day report hold him responsible for what happened.

"It was the dean’s initiative to disband a longstanding committee charged with ensuring the accuracy of rankings data," said a campuswide email sent by Richard M. Englert, Temple's president. "This absence of checks and balances, together with an undue focus on rankings, enabled such misreporting. While we are committed to determining the nature and extent of possible incorrect data reporting regarding other academic programs at Fox, one thing is clear: This is contrary to the fundamental value of integrity that is at the heart of our academic mission."

Beyond the removal of the checks and balances, the Jones Day report also described an environment of ratings focus at the Fox School of Business, which offers both undergraduate and M.B.A. programs. The rankings falsehoods were found in the online M.B.A. program.

"The investigation revealed that (i) the dean and other Fox personnel made clear that improving or maintaining Fox’s position in rankings was a key priority; (ii) Fox had in place a concerted, rankings-focused strategy including detailed analyses of U.S. News’s rankings methodology and strategies tied to specific U.S. News data metrics, which strategy was promoted internally by the dean and other Fox personnel; and (iii) the environment fostered by the school’s emphasis on rankings contributed to the reporting of inaccurate information to U.S. News," the report said. "Moreover, the dean’s focus on rankings, coupled with his personal management style, caused Fox personnel who interacted with the dean on ranking-related matters to feel pressure to perform in this regard."

"For example, Fox touted the [online M.B.A.] program’s fourth straight #1 U.S. News ranking in an email on January 22, 2018, notwithstanding that its leadership had learned more than ten days before that the survey response included inaccurate data," the report said. "Praise for such achievements was also given at the individual employee level. Most significantly, in annual performance reviews and otherwise, the employee principally responsible for rankings surveys received very favorable assessments of the employee’s rankings-related work, and was even given credit not just for compiling and organizing information for submission to rankings agencies, but also for improvements in Fox’s rankings positions."

Investigations by Attorney General and Others

On Friday, Pennsylvania's attorney general, Josh Shapiro, announced that he was launching an investigation into what Temple had done. He said he was sending a series of questions to Temple.

“My job is to ensure students and their families receive the benefit of the bargain when they make significant expenditures to advance their education,” a statement from Shapiro said. “It is especially troubling to learn that an institution entrusted with significant Commonwealth funding to educate our citizens is alleged to have so flagrantly violated the trust of students, families and taxpayers alike.”

Shapiro isn't the only one asking questions.

In releasing the details of the falsehoods last week, Temple tried to reassure current and prospective students with an FAQ. Here is one question and one answer: "Does this affect the Fox School’s accreditation? The Fox School remains accredited by AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a distinction held by fewer than 5 percent of the world’s business schools and one that the Fox School has maintained continuously since 1934."

The statement is correct that AACSB accreditation stands, and it is rare for accreditors to revoke recognition. But AACSB is "actively investigating" Temple's business school and its compliance with requirements, according to a statement from Stephanie Bryant, AACSB's executive vice president and chief accreditation officer.

Bryant said that several criteria for accreditation would appear relevant to what was going on at Temple. One requirement is that a business school "must encourage and support ethical behavior by students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff." In part this is judged by whether "the school has appropriate systems, policies and procedures that reflect the school’s support for and importance of ethical behavior for students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff in their professional and personal actions." One problem identified at Temple was that the now former dean disbanded a faculty review panel that had previously assured the accuracy of data submitted for rankings.

Another standard that Bryant said may be relevant is a requirement that accredited business schools "represent degree and nondegree programs accurately, realistically and with integrity in all communications."

Business schools under investigation maintain accreditation during the inquiries, she said. Those found in violation face "sanctions range from consulting with the school to accelerating a peer-review visit (i.e., earlier than the normal five-year timetable) to revoking accreditation."

Brian Kirschner, director for communications and public relations of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which is Temple's primary institutional accreditor, said that Middle States "continues to monitor" the situation at Temple with regard to its business school. Middle States asked for (and received) a report in February, after the word of irregularities first came out. Middle States is now expecting further updates, he said.

Kirschner said that Temple's reported conduct raised questions about its compliance with two of the accreditor's standards. One of those standards, on ethical conduct, states that "ethics and integrity are central, indispensable, and defining hallmarks of effective higher education institutions. In all activities, whether internal or external, an institution must be faithful to its mission, honor its contracts and commitments, adhere to its policies, and represent itself truthfully." Another standard requires that accredited colleges and universities provide "accurate" information about a range of topics, including student debt.

After receiving the first reports in February, Middle States asked that it be kept informed of the situation so it could consider various issues.

A spokesman for Temple said that the university would be cooperating with all inquiries from accreditors.

U.S. News is also asking for more information from Temple. A letter sent to the university Tuesday noted that one line in the outside report prepared on the data falsehoods said the review found evidence that the problems may have extended beyond the online M.B.A. program. As a result U.S. News is asking Temple to verify the accuracy of data submitted for the magazine's rankings of undergraduate colleges and universities and graduate programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing.