CHICAGO (AP) – The American Bar Association has taken the unprecedented step of fining the University of Illinois’ law school $250,000 for posting false entrance exam scores and grades in marketing materials to improve the school’s image.

The Bar Association announced Tuesday that it is also censuring the College of Law and will require that it hire someone to monitor the admissions data for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

The university said in a statement it was disappointed and believes it has already taken adequate corrective action.

The university has said that former Admissions Dean Paul Pless inflated incoming students’ grades and entrance-exam results for several years. That data are used to help determine the school’s place in the influential U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Pless resigned last fall.

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