Three former University of Southern California (USC) students have filed a class action lawsuit against the school and the education technology company 2U over alleged inflated rankings of the university’s programs in U.S. News & World Report.
Plaintiffs Iola Favell, Sue Zarnowski, and Mariah Cummings claim in their complaint that USC “manipulated and artificially inflated” the rankings for its Rossier School of Education (USC Rossier) — which costs “top dollar” — in order to recruit prospective students.
As a result, the plaintiffs argue they accumulated student debt in order to be a part of a USC program that they otherwise wouldn’t have chosen to take out loans for, if they had known its alleged correct ranking.
The complaint “centers on that rankings fraud, and in particular, the way in which USC — in concert with its partner and for-profit, publicly-traded corporation, Defendant 2U — aggressively advertised USC Rossier’s fraudulent rankings to grow enrollment in the school’s online programs.”
“In March 2022, USC made headlines for its decision to withdraw its Rossier School of Education (“USC Rossier”) from the U.S. News & World Report‘s (“US News”) ranking of graduate schools of education,” the complaint explains.
“The US News annual ranking of educational institutions is the single most referenced source of school prestige and academic standing that prospective students consult when selecting a school,” the complaint continued.
“The rankings play a critical role in prospective students’ academic decisions, making USC’s recent decision to withdraw from these rankings shocking,” the lawsuit added. “Even more shocking was the reason why: an internal investigation by USC’s counsel Jones Day revealed that USC had submitted erroneous data to inflate USC Rossier’s rankings for years.”
USC has also been working with 2U, which specializes in helping schools create online programs, since 2008. This was the same time the university had allegedly begun submitting misleading information.
The complaint also claims the school “cherry-picked” data, resulting in USC Rossier having a higher rating.
“Specifically, it cherry-picked amongst USC Rossier’s admissions selectivity data, capturing only a small percentage of its in-person doctoral students for its submission, a game it would play until it was caught in 2021,” the complaint read.
“The fraud paid off: between 2008 and 2009, USC Rossier vaulted from #38 to #22,” the suit added. “In the years that followed, USC Rossier jumped even further, consistently landing in the top 20, ultimately soaring to an inflated high of #10 in 2018—all while USC Rossier’s online offerings and enrollment expanded.”
The lawsuit also said that USC and 2U also “touted the ranking via social media posts and press releases, ensuring the message reached all prospective online students multiple times.”
“But Defendants never disclosed to those interested in the online programs that the ranking relied on data measuring only a select portion of USC Rossier’s in-person degree programs,” the complaint affirmed.
“This was by design: 2U’s contract with USC required USC to promote the online degrees in a manner comparable to the promotion of the in-person degrees and included other language to ensure consistent marketing,” the complaint read.
As a result of the alleged fraudulent ranking, plaintiffs took out between $41,000 and $100,000 each in student debt for teaching degrees.
For example, Zarnowski now has $41,000 in student debt after taking out loans to pay for what she thought was a high-value USC program, the complaint said.
“She would not have attended had USC Rossier been ranked in a lower position given the high price tag of the school and/or would not have paid nearly as much,” the suit read. “Zarnowski currently holds two jobs to help pay off her $41,000 debt and is living with her parents.”
Meanwhile, Cummings and Favell both owe more than $100,000 in student loan debt, and they regret their to attend USC Rossier because of the false rankings information.”
As for Favell, she is now “a public elementary school teacher in Los Angeles, with over $100,000 in student loan debt attributable to the cost of attending USC Rossier.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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