Inflated grades sink education

Students want the highest grades in school, but when students receive high grades without earning them, everyone loses.

Grade inflation, as the name implies, results when professors inflate students' grades for work not measuring up to standards.

Data exists for private and public universities and their respective GPAs. Since the mid-1980s, a steady increase in GPAs exists in both types of schools, according to Stuart Rojstaczer, retired professor of Duke University and grade-inflation recorder.

The main problem with grade inflation is that, while the student may receive high marks, they lack an actual education.

A good education structures the mind in such a way that it can think critically, objectively and with purpose. College places the responsibility of education on the student rather than the instructor, so the student develops into a self-directed learner.

If a student receives a higher grade than they deserved for their work, they certainly didn't achieve their full potential. Higher grades motivate some students while others embrace complacency.

Universities benefit from grade inflation because it makes the school appear more competitive than other schools.

The higher grade places the student into a graduate school of their choice or lands the student a decent job. Do students attend college just for employment? If college represents nothing more than a requirement to earn a salary higher than a high-school graduate, then perhaps universities should continue grade inflation. But grade inflation must rise slowly so no one catches on.

Grade inflation not only hurts students getting an education, but it also covers up the best students.

When grade inflation occurs, grades lump together on one side of the bell curve, according to Harvey C. Mansfield, professor at Harvard University. Exceptional students cannot be differentiated from poor students.

Another problem with grade inflation centers on professors, according to Mansfield. Instead of having criteria for student performance, Mansfield argues professors care more about student evaluations. Some professors approach teaching from what students expect rather than having their own standards for the class.

Grade inflation rests on more than one person's shoulders. It resides in the collective consciousness of a people reaching for success in a difficult world.

Economist E.F. Schumacher called education "the greatest resource." If we arbitrarily inflate our resources, we are not using them efficiently. Truly excellent talent will go unutilized.

A C grade represents average work. Because of our challenging world, students avoid a C at all costs. Let's not forget about the dreadful D and F as well. Students avoid these grades because they limit options for graduate school and careers.

Below-average grades sometimes bring out the best in students. A little failure goes a long way in showing students what they can accomplish, what they cannot and how much work a decent grade requires. If a student fails one assignment and passes the next, surely they learned something along the way.

Instead of inflating a C to a B and a B to an A, which promotes complacency, giving a student the grade earned pushes students into learning the material.

Because grade inflation detracts from everyone's education, recommendations exist for combating grade inflation.

One way to fight grade inflation involves the faculty raising current standards for courses so students try harder in class, according to Consolacion L. Fajardo, professor of accounting at National University in California. Fajardo completed a study on grade inflation in 2004.

Certainly this recommendation pushes students toward the goal of striving for education.

Ending grade inflation also includes more communication between professors and departments, according to Fajardo. This open communication should include discussion about raising standards and grading policies.

By looking at both grades and raised standards, professors see what separates excellence from average, which creates a fair grading system. With a fair grading system, students see their true potential.

In deflating grades at National University, faculty met once a month for meetings and focused on standards in the classroom, according to Fajardo. The school also focused on higher standards by creating smaller class sizes.

Employers can see who measures up best for a job by looking at a student's actual grades, creating a stronger workforce. Students striving for success with professors who challenge them increase everyone's potential.

Everyone appreciates receiving an A for course work. But if we didn't learn as much as possible or really earn the grade, then what's the point? Maybe we want recognition for hard work, but we must remember true education never needs validation with a grade.

Originally published in The Blue Banner, Spring 2009