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Friday, April 26, 2024

A lawsuit says University of Oklahoma skewed numbers to attain better U.S. News & World Report ranking

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Education1280

OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline) – A Texas woman is suing the University of Oklahoma, alleging that she was misled about the transferability of credits and the ranking of the school.

Elani Gretzer, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on May 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against the state of Oklahoma, through the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiff alleges she enrolled in the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business in Spring 2016. The plaintiff alleges U.S. News & World Report ranked the school at No. 45 for best undergraduate programs for public universities and she relied on this ruling when choosing to enroll.

The plaintiff alleges the university failed to disclose that the six-year graduation rate was 66 percent or issues about the transferability of credits to other universities and colleges. The plaintiff alleges when she transferred from the defendant university to the University of Houston, it did not accept any of the plaintiff's 46 completed credits from the University of Oklahoma. 

The suit states the University of Oklahoma told U.S. News in 2018 it inflated its data regarding alumni giving since 1999, which affects its placement on school rankings and lists. It is alleged that the university misrepresented to U.S. News and other ranking services that its programs had qualifications, benefits and characteristics they did not have.

The plaintiff alleges the university was unjustly enriched by its allegedly wrongful acts and conduct and she and class members have been harmed.

The plaintiff is seeking attorneys' fees, interest, other relief deemed fit. The plaintiff is represented by Nicole Snapp-Holloway and Jacob D. Diesselhorst of Maples, Nix & Diesselhorst PLLC in Edmond, Oklahoma, and others.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma case number 5:19-CV-00490

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