Hi-grade controversy

New study fuels debate over academic inflation.

By: Jeff Milgram
   What does it mean when a Princeton University student gets an A?
   This is a question university administrators and faculty members are grappling with as grades continue to rise.
   A’s and B’s are the most prevalent grades at Princeton. "People are finding fewer and fewer C’s issued and that’s true for D’s also," said Princeton’s registrar, Joseph L. Greenberg.
   "The university does keep tabs on grade trends," Mr. Greenberg said. "It’s certainly a trend toward higher grades over time."
   Princeton’s average grade point average, that all important GPA, rose from 2.99 in 1971 to 3.36 in 2000, according to a study of 34 colleges and universities by Duke University Professor of Environmental Science Stuart Rojstaczer.
   A perfect grade point average is 4.0.
   An article detailing Professor Rojstaczer’s research appeared in Thursday’s issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. He is compiling a database at various four-year colleges.
   This grade inflation is a nationwide phenomena.
   "The information I’ve seen nationally is that grades are rising across the board," Mr. Greenberg said.
   Professor Rojstaczer’s research bears that out. "Every school that I can find that has data available shows grade inflation," he told The Chronicle of Higher Education.
   Grade point averages increased, from the mid-1980s to 2000, between 0.07 and 0.14 at Alabama, Columbia and Ohio State; between 0.14 and 0.21 at Duke, Harvard, North Carolina, Northwestern, Pomona and Princeton; and over 0.21 at Kenyon, Miami and Ohio University.
   This is not a new worry. In 1996, the Princeton Alumni Weekly reported, "Last year, undergraduates earned 8 percent more A’s than they did just seven years ago and more than twice as many as they did in 1969-70. In 1994-95, 41 percent of all grades awarded were A’s and 42 percent were B’s."
   The Princeton Alumni Weekly reported that Princeton’s grade distribution was comparable to other Ivy League universities.
   Mr. Greenberg’s office has been studying the rise in grades and reports back to the faculty. He termed the grade inflation a "concern" rather than a problem.
   "It is certainly a concern to us to provide a guideline concerning what a grade means," Mr. Greenberg said.
   He said grades "should be a reflection of a student’s mastery of course material."
   And Professor Rojstaczer believes the higher grades are the result of inflation, not smarter students.
   "While local increases in student quality may account for part of the grade inflation at some institutions, the national trend cannot be explained by this influence. There is no evidence that students have improved in quality nationwide since the mid-1980s," he said.
   There are many theories to explain grade inflation, said Mr. Greenberg, who declined to offer his own theory.
   But Professor Rojstaczer felt no such reluctance.
   "An oft-cited reason for grade inflation in the 1960s was the kindness of faculty members toward students trying to avoid the military draft during the Vietnam War," he said.
   Other theories place the blame on affirmative action. "However, much of the rise in minority enrollments occurred during a time, the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, when grade inflation waned. As a result, it is unlikely that affirmative action has had a significant influence," Professor Rojstaczer said.
   So what causes grade inflation? Professor Rojstaczer believes it was caused by a "consumer-based culture in higher education."
   "Students are paying more for a product every year, and increasingly they want and get the reward of a good grade for their purchase," he said. "In this culture, professors are not only compelled to grade easier, but also to water down course content. Both intellectual rigor and grading standards have weakened. This conjecture is based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove."
   According to the Princeton Alumni Weekly, students aren’t the only ones to bring pressure on professors.
   "’Several years ago, an instructor of linear algebra gave a third of the class C’s, and there was a big uproar," said Joseph J. Kohn, then chairman of the mathematics department. "He received a ‘long letter’ from a dean who suggested that that kind of grading would discourage the students," according to the publication.
   "’Ten years ago, a third of a class earning C’s was normal. Professors feel they’re supposed to grade "efforts," not the product,’ he added," the magazine said.
   According to the article, a professor who tried to "deflate" grades unilaterally would be "demonized."