Grade inflation is most frequent at the nation's most selective schools, according to a study released earlier this month. The results of the study have raised questions among faculty and administrators about the University's grading practices.
The study, conducted by Harvard University Economics Prof. Henry Rosovsky and Matthew Hartley, a University of Pennsylvania higher education lecturer, said from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s grade point averages rose by 15 to 20 percent at all types of colleges and universities.
"Although higher grades appear in all types of institutions, grade inflation appears to be particularly noticeable in the Ivy League," the study said.
Whether the University, as a highly selective school, also has been affected by this trend remains a matter of some debate.
A number of professors and administrators agree that though some grade inflation occurs at the University, courses still are sufficiently difficult and grades still must be earned.
"I don't think [grade inflation is] rampant here," College Dean Edward L. Ayers said.
Ayers said he thinks average grades have improved somewhat in recent years, but he could not be sure.
"I think we are affected by national movements toward grade inflation, but I still think we are very rigorous," English Dept. Chairman Michael Levenson said of his department.
The survey lists a variety of potential causes of grade inflation, including student evaluations, changing attitudes toward students and watered down course content.
"Research has shown that grades were significantly correlated with student ratings of faculty performance - that is, courses with higher grades received higher evaluations," the study said.
Though the study claimed that untenured professors may be inflating grades to try to get better evaluations, Robert Fatton, chairman of the department of government and foreign affairs, disputed this as a dominant cause of grade inflation at the University.
"In many instances the evaluations are done before the grades are known," he said.
The study also found that grade inflation is more common in the humanities than in the sciences, which have more objective standards.
"It is possible to be dead wrong in physics," said Physics Department Chairman Thomas Gallagher, explaining why grade inflation was not a major problem in his department.
"It's harder to get a failing grade in an English course," Levenson said.
University professors such as Ayers, Fatton and Levenson do note some grade inflation, but agree that "As" are not awarded more often than in the past. Instead, the lowest grades almost have vanished, leaving a vast number of students in the middle.
Ayers said this change partially could be attributed to the selectivity of the University.
"Part of it is a sign of students' abilities," he said.
Still, some professors have noted a definite trend toward grade inflation at the University.
"What is now a 'B' would probably have been a 'C,'" 15 or 20 years ago, Fatton said. He added that he thinks a change is needed in the system because "at some point a 'B' will have no value"
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