From fall 2017 through 2019, the historically Black Texas Southern University gave $2 million in aid to unqualified students and also admitted many who didn’t meet academic requirements, concluded an external review of admissions irregularities at the beleaguered institution, reported The Texas Tribune.
Kenneth HuewittThese revelations come on the heels of the February termination of then university president Dr. Austin Lane for several contract violations, such as not reporting allegations of fraud in the university admissions process.
The external review said as many as 4,141 of 8,273 underqualified applicants were accepted “based upon a variety of undocumented scenarios” during fall 2012 through 2019. According to the review summary, many of the underqualified students are no longer enrolled at Texas Southern. The university enrolls about 10,000 students, with a freshman class of around 2,000, said the Tribune.
Texas Southern interim president Kenneth Huewitt said in a statement Thursday that he had received the report and submitted it to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas State Auditor’s Office as required.
“Most important, we will continue to address this issue and the recommendations listed in the report,” he said.
