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Claremont McKenna College admitted on Monday that it submitted inflated SAT averages to various rankings entities for the last six years, The New York Times reported. College officials said that the scores -- already high at the college -- were boosted by about 10 or 20 points each on the mathematics and critical reading sections. In the most recent data, the college reported a combined median scores of 1410, when the real median was 1400. The 75th percentile was reported as 1510 when it was really 1480. The college said a single individual -- identified by the Times as Richard C. Vos, vice president and dean of admissions -- admitted to inflating the numbers. Vos declined to comment.
Two law schools -- those of Villanova University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- have admitted in recent years to have used inflated LSAT scores to improve rankings.
Robert Morse, who directs rankings for U.S. News & World Report, said this morning that Claremont McKenna did inform him Monday that it had provided incorrect data. But he said that the college declined his requests to provide raw data that would allow for a re-ranking of colleges. He said that it was possible that there could be modest changes in the college's ranking when correct numbers are provided. Morse said U.S. News would recalculate the data for the college, but only when it provided actual numbers, not just a summary with rough figures. (UPDATE: Morse has since reported that the college has made available all of its data.)