Anatomy of an Enrollment Fraud

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the impact student enrollment manipulations have on the allocation of state resources among higher education institutions, and is motivated by a concern that gamesmanship in accounting for student enrollments leads to a lack of accurate and transparent reporting and ultimately inequities in intrastate funding of higher education institutions. To explore this issue, we use a case study methodology to analyze a State Auditor's Office investigation of a whistle-blower's complaint that a university employee wrongfully inflated the university's student count to increase state funding for the institution. We find that while the method the employee used to inflate student enrollments was ultimately condemned, another method of enrollment manipulation with much greater funding implications was not. Further research is needed to determine the scope of funding implications for similar types of enrollment manipulations across state-funded academic institutions.

Citation

Thornton, J.M. and Ashley, N.W. (2012), "Anatomy of an Enrollment Fraud", Jeffrey, C. (Ed.) Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting (Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1574-0765(2012)0000016004