Villanova law school censured

PHILADELPHIA - The law school at Villanova University has been censured for submitting falsified admissions data for several years to the American Bar Association, allegedly at the behest of onetime administrators at the school.

The action comes months after Villanova first disclosed publicly that staff members inflated the school’s median grade-point averages and scores on the Law School Admissions Test. Both data sets often factor into law school rankings.

“I think this group of individuals, they were very careful to keep it secret, not to draw any sort of red flags,’’ law school dean John Gotanda said yesterday.