http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-of-college-grade-inflation/July 14, 2011, 10:00 am
A History of College Grade Inflation
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
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Most recently, about 43 percent of all letter grades given were A�s, an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960 and 12 percentage points since 1988. The distribution of B�s has stayed relatively constant; the growing share of A�s instead comes at the expense of a shrinking share of C�s, D�s and F�s. In fact, only about 10 percent of grades awarded are D�s and F�s.
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What accounts for the higher G.P.A.�s over the last few decades?
The authors don�t attribute steep grade inflation to higher-quality or harder-working students. In fact, one recent study found that students spend significantly less time studying today than they did in the past.
Rather, the researchers argue that grade inflation began picking in the 1970s probably because professors were reluctant to give students D�s and F�s. After all, poor grades could land young men in Vietnam.
They then attribute the rapid rise in grade inflation in the last couple of decades to a more �consumer-based approach� to education, which they say �has created both external and internal incentives for the faculty to grade more generously.� More generous grading can produce better instructor reviews, for example, and can help students be more competitive candidates for graduate schools and the job market.
The authors argue that grading standards may become even looser in the coming years, making it increasingly more difficult for graduate schools and employers to distinguish between excellent, good and mediocre students.
More disturbing, they argue, are the potential effects on educational outcomes.
�When college students perceive that the average grade in a class will be an A, they do not try to excel,� they write. �It is likely that the decline in student study hours, student engagement, and literacy are partly the result of diminished academic expectations.�
