Those are hefty penalties for gaming a series of U.S. News & World Report rankings on online MBA programs, part-time MBAs, and undergraduate business education. “Dean Porat said, ‘Well, if they haven’t caught it … what makes you think they will catch it now?’” recalled Christine Kiely, an assistant dean at Fox, in a deposition. “He seemed annoyed that we were talking about it — in essence, turning ourselves in.”Fudging data for rankings, of course, is hardly new. But this is the first time, the federal government has brought charges in a rankings scam. The indictment amounts to a loud warning shot to others tempted to tweak numbers in their favor.

Source: Forbes April 17, 2021 15:32 UTC