Grade inflation (also known as grading leniency) is the general awarding of higher grades for the same quality of work over time, which devalues grades. However, higher average grades in themselves do not prove grade inflation. For this to be grade inflation, it is necessary to demonstrate that the quality of work does not deserve the high grade.
Grade inflation is frequently discussed in relation to education in the United States, and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Poland, Germany, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, China, and India.
Arguments
Arguments for taking action on grade inflation It reduces the incentive for bright students to excel, since mediocre work increasingly qualifies for top grades. It undermines the corrective feedback function of grading. It is not uniform between schools. This places students in more stringently graded schools and departments at an unfair disadvantage, unless employers take into account a school's ranking. It is not uniform among disciplines. It makes it more difficult to compare students who took their exams at different times. Prospective employers must rely on indicators other than grades, such as internships and work experience, in order to gauge a graduate's skill level and attitude. Degrees become less valuable. It can give students a false sense of knowledge and accomplishments if they do not realize that they do not deserve the high grade. In situations where specific competencies are required to ensure safety, grade inflation may cause harm.
Arguments against taking action on grade inflation Higher grades at some schools may reflect better performance than others (although with no national standard, there can be no way to compare one school to another by grades). Although grade inflation does not evenly distribute through departments, it is arguable due to the subjective nature of grades, that interdepartmental grading practices were not equal in the first place (e.g. how is one supposed to determine the equivalent grade for an English course to an A grade in physics?) It can motivate students of average ability to invest in an academic degree, instead of learning a skilled trade at a vocational school.
Ratings inflation Grade inflation is a specific instance of a broader phenomenon of ratings or reputation inflation where rating decisions are made by individuals. This has been occurring in peer-to-peer services such as Uber.
In the United States At the secondary level Data from the ACT show that, since 2016, and particularly during the COVID-19 restrictions, grade inflation in secondary schools has sharply accelerated. Most students taking the ACT have claimed to be labelled as "A" students by their high schools. Despite apparently impressive GPAs on ACT registration forms, the average scores have fallen since 2012. Data from the Department of Education, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress have also found strong evidence of grade inflation and declining achievement.
At the post-secondary level Louis Goldman, professor at Wichita State University, states that an increase of .404 points was reported from a survey in 134 colleges from 1965 to 1973. A second study in 180 colleges, showed a .432 GPA increase from 1960 to 1974, both indicating grade inflation.
Stuart Rojstaczer, a retired geophysics professor at Duke University, has collected historical data from over 400 four-year schools, in some cases dating back to the 1920s, showing evidence of nationwide grade inflation over time, and regular differences between classes of schools and departments.
Harvey Mansfield, a professor of government at Harvard University, argues that just denying the existence of grading inflation at Harvard proves that the problem is serious. He states that students are given easy grades by some professors to be popular, and these professors will be forgotten; only the ones challenging students will be remembered.
Main historical trends identified include: a divergence in average grades between public and private institutions, starting in the 1950s; a widespread sharp rise in grades from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s (Vietnam War years); relatively little change in grades from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s; a slow rise in grades from the mid-1980s to present.
Until recently, the evidence for grade inflation in the US has been sparse, largely anecdotal, and sometimes even contradictory; firm data on this issue was not abundant, nor was it easily attainable or amenable for analysis. National surveys in the 1990s generally showed rising grades at American colleges and universities,Levine and Cureton, 1998; Kuh and Hu, 1999 but a 1995 survey of college transcripts by Clifford Adelman, a senior research analyst in the U.S. Department of Education, found that grades declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s. Data for American high schools were lacking.
Recent data leave little doubt that grades are rising at American colleges, universities and high schools. An evaluation of grading practices in US colleges and universities written in 2003, shows that since the 1960s, grades in the US have risen at a rate of 0.15 per decade on a 4.0 scale. The study included over 80 institutions with a combined enrollment of over 1,000,000 students. An annual national survey of college freshmenHIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE indicates that students are studying less in high school, yet an increasing number report high school grades of A− or better. Studies are being made in order to determine who is more likely to inflate grades, and why an instructor would inflate a grade.
A 2021 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research has found a significant drop in completion rates between 1970 and 1990, particularly among male students. From 1990 to the present, the study has found a more-or-less steady improvement in completion rates. However, first-year students are no better prepared for college level studies than their predecessors from 1990. Similarly, the quality of instruction provided by colleges has also seen no improvement since 1990. The only plausible explanation for improved completion rates is grade inflation. A 2022 study linked grade inflation to rising graduation rates in the United States since the 1990s because GPA strongly predicts graduation.
Princeton University In an attempt to combat the grade inflation prevalent at many top US institutions, Princeton began in the autumn of 2004 to employ guidelines for grading distributions across departments. Under the new guidelines, departments have been encouraged to re-evaluate and clarify their grading policies. The administration suggests that, averaged over the course of several years in an individual department, A-range grades should constitute 35% of grades in classroom work, and 55% of grades in independent work such as Senior Theses. These guidelines are enforced by the academic departments. Since the policy's inception, A-range grades have declined significantly in Humanities departments, while remaining nearly constant in the Natural Science departments, which were typically at or near the 35% guideline already.
In 2009, it was confirmed that the policy implemented in 2004 had brought undergraduate grades within the ranges targeted by the initiative. In 2008–09, A grades (A+, A, A−) accounted for 39.7% of grades in undergraduate courses across the university, the first time that A grades have fallen below 40% since the policy was approved. The results were in marked contrast to those from 2002 to 2003, when As accounted for a high of 47.9% of all grades.
Deflation has varied by division, with the social sciences and natural sciences largely holding steady for the last four years. During that period, A grades have ranged from 37.1 to 37.9% in the social sciences and from 35.1 to 35.9% in the natural sciences. In the humanities and engineering, where deflation has been slower, 2008–09 brought significant movement. A's accounted for 42.5% of grades in the humanities last year and 40.6% of grades in engineering, both down two percentage points compared to 2007–08. In the period from fall 2006 through spring 2009, the most recent three-year period under the new grading policy, A's accounted for 40.1% of grades in undergraduate courses, down from 47.0% in 2001–04, the three years before the faculty adopted the policy. The 2006–09 results also mark continued deflation from those reported a year ago, when A's accounted for 40.4% of undergraduate grades in the 2005–08 period. In humanities departments, A's accounted for 44.1% of the grades in undergraduate courses in 2006–09, down from 55.6% in 2001–04. In the social sciences, there were 37.7% A grades in 2006–09, down from 43.3% in 2001–04. In the natural sciences, there were 35.6% A grades in 2006–09, compared to 37.2% in 2001–04. In engineering, the figures were 41.7% A's in 2006–09, down from 50.2% in 2001–04.
Harvard University Grade inflation is often equated with lax academic standards. For example, the following quote about lax standards from a Harvard University report in 1894 has been used to claim that grade inflation has been a longstanding issue: "Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily—Grade A for work of not very high merit, and Grade B for work not far above mediocrity. ... insincere students gain passable grades by sham work."("Report of the Committee on Raising the Standard") Issues of standards in American education have been longstanding.
Harvard graduate and professor Harvey Mansfield is a longtime vocal opponent of grade inflation at his alma mater. In 2013, Mansfield, after hearing from a dean that "the most frequent grade is an A", claimed to give students two grades: one for their transcript, and the one he thinks they deserve. He commented, "I didn't want my students to be punished by being the only ones to suffer for getting an accurate grade". In response, Nathaniel Stein published a satirical "leaked" grading rubric in The New York Times, which included such grades as an A++ and A+++, or "A+ with garlands".
University of Alabama The University of Alabama has been cited as a recent case of grade inflation. In 2003, Robert Witt, president of the university, responded to criticism that his administration encouraged grade inflation on campus by shutting down access to the records of the Office of Institutional Research, which, until that year, had made grade distribution data freely available. It is, however, still available on the Greek Affairs website. The Alabama Scholars Organization, and its newspaper, the Alabama Observer, had been instrumental in exposing the situation and recommending that the Witt administration adopt public accountability measures. The paper had revealed that several departments awarded more than 50 percent "A"s in introductory courses and that one department, Women's Studies, handed out 90 percent "A"s (the vast majority of those being "A+"). Grades had grown consistently higher during the period examined, from 1973 to 2003.
UC campuses UC Berkeley has a reputation for rigorous grading policies. UC Berkeley College of Engineering guidelines state that no more than 17% of the students in any given class may be awarded A grades, and that the class GPA should be in the range of 2.7 to 2.9 out of a maximum of 4.0 grade points. Some departments, however, are not adhering to such strict guidelines, as data from the UCB's Office of Student Research indicates that the average overall undergraduate GPA was about 3.25 in 2006. Other campuses have stricter grading policies. For example, the average undergraduate GPA of UC San Diego is 3.05, and fewer students have GPA > 3.5 in science majors. UC Irvine's average GPA is 3.01.
Saint Anselm College