OKLAHOMA CITY - The University of Oklahoma misreported data used to nationally rank the school for nearly 20 years, seriously impacting its prestige and reputation, a former student alleges in a federal lawsuit that seeks class-action status. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Oklahoma City estimates as many as 350,000 current and former students could be a part of the proposed class, with claims well in excess of $5 million. “The University of Oklahoma knew that its rankings by U.S. News and other educational ranking organizations were false and based upon lies and fabricated data provided by the University of Oklahoma,” the lawsuit alleges. A university spokeswoman declined to comment on the suit until school officials had time to review the lawsuit, but OU officials acknowledged last year that it had inflated its alumni giving data since 1999. After the review, the university said it corrected the issues that led to incorrect data being reported.

Source: thestar May 30, 2019 16:38 UTC