These allegations bother me. Two former professors at Phoneix School of Law have brought a wrongful termination suit in which they allege that the school concocted ways to prevent law students from successfully transfering to other law schools. ABA Journal. National Law Journal. Courthouse News. The story is not entirely clear on which methods were merely discussed and which were implemented.
I realize that schools have to look out for their own financial interests to some degree, and I realize that it's not fun to see your best students tranfer out, but the steps Phoenix took (or discussed taking -- the article is a little unclear on that) strike me as hurting the students if not sabotaging their ability to compete in a very difficult marketplace. Do those means strike you as legtimate educational needs? Is is fair (is it ethical) to hobble your students for your own economic benefit?
Key excerpts:
Phoenix began requiring students considering transfers to meet with an administrator before it would release their transcripts. [¶] Additionally, administrators discussed refusing to write recommendation letters for transfer students; reordering mandatory first-year classes to render them incompatible with other law schools; and adopting a pass/fail grading system for 1Ls to prevent competitors identifying top students, the complaint alleges.