Climbing the ranks: best practices for preventing fraud and misreporting in admissions and institutional data reporting
College and university admissions practices have recently come under fire. Whether due to the recent “Varsity Blues” admissions scandal, or from institutions struggling to fill incoming classes, processes to admit students are gaining increased public attention.
Why do admissions practices matter? One reason is data. Colleges and universities collect and report out on a variety of statistics related to incoming students to select government entities, ranking and accrediting associations to produce an accurate analysis of the institution. Inaccurate data reporting, whether intentional or not, can lead to a misrepresentation of the institution. In addition, misreported data can result in loss of accreditation and/or the removal of the school’s name in college rankings and/or guidebooks, which has a direct impact on its ability to recruit new students.
Listen in to learn how internal audit can aid colleges and universities in addressing the risks often associated with admissions and institutional data reporting and help prevent reputational and legal damages.
Learning objectives:
- Define the admissions and data reporting landscape and processes
- Identify how and why fraud and misreporting occur, and their impacts on an institution
- Recognize challenges in admissions and data reporting
- Develop approaches for evaluating controls over admissions and data reporting
