Grade inflation degrades college education

Although some of us may find ourselves wishing for higher grades, we may already be paying the price for it.

High test scores and grade point averages and percentages of graduates with honors without a doubt make a school look good.

It’s no wonder that, with pressure to accept more admissions and graduate them with esteem, students are caring less and slacking more. As David D. Perlmutter of Louisiana State University recently bemoaned in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Students are blithely ignorant; professors are bitter." Perlmutter believes, and rightfully so, that the balance has shifted too far in our direction, leaving professors to either grin and bear the pressure to punch up grades and self-esteem or refuse to and gain a negative reputation with their peers and students alike.

Most trace the beginnings of grade inflation to higher education in the 1960s. As students who performed average or unsatisfactory work could be drafted to Vietnam, professors, especially those against the war, were encouraged to give higher grades that did not necessarily reflect classroom work or knowledge.

Grades were created as a way to objectively measure how much a student learned in the classroom. However, with notions of self-esteem and student empowerment, grades began to be seen as inhumane and discriminatory. After all, by telling one student she's earned an A and another that she's earned a C-, haven't you set the A student on a pedestal?

Setting people apart is contrary to the very nature of modern college. We promote diversity and multiculturalism and thus are not able to distinguish between that which is average and that which is above average.

College itself used to set students apart from those that just achieved through high school. But with the pressure to put all of America's youth into college, those who cannot compete or learn the most complex are still treated to at least a C.

Purdue needs to have large numbers of graduates that will, in turn, bring in more students to graduate. The pressure is on for high numbers graduation wise and GPA wise, and any ways to reach these higher numbers are acceptable. High numbers are like advertisements of the ability to produce educated people. But are they really educated?

Two thirds of the graduates from Harvard Law School walk out with honors. Harvard University is the pinnacle of the Ivy League education and in many cases, the ideal example of higher education. It makes sense that professors with such highly graded students and a long reputation of excellence would be the last place grade inflation would rear up.

Yet, Harvey C. Mansfield is a government professor at Harvard who grew so fed up with the rampant grade inflation he began giving his students two grades, one for the registrar and school records, and one just for them that measured their true performance.

So if Harvard is committing the sin of falsely telling the world that its students have learned enough to carry a bachelor's degree, what hope does Purdue have? How many of the 5,355 students that graduated from this University last spring actually obtained and retained knowledge worthy of a Purdue diploma. We'll never know. We'll never even know if we're earning knowledge worthy of a Purdue diploma, because chances are it's been a long time since there's been any inflation-free diplomas.

Some say that college students are earning consistently higher grades because they are consistently better prepared for college now and are thus deserving of higher grades. Why then are professors like Perlmutter and Mansfield so infuriated with the new generation of ignorant, disrespectful students?

If we're to believe that we all really earned those high grades, than professors the world over should be rejoicing to meet the next class of freshmen, who can only be even more intelligent and insightful than the last.

Grade inflation allows no room to distinguish between the outstanding and the mediocre, as all the grades are close or similar. Think for a moment how many times you may have squeaked by with a B or a C when you pretty much slept through the course. And if not you, then someone you know will tell that story again and again.

The close relationship between professors and students also encourages higher grades, as higher grades encourages a positive relationship and after all, who doesn't want to be friends?

We come here for an intangible education and are handed hard proof that we showed up and recited back the book. Didn't we pay for something more than likable professors? Didn't we pay for the difficulty of learning new and more complex things than we already learned?

n Editorial Board: Keith Thomas, Tom McHenry, Erica Sagon, Matt Poston, John Wakefield, Shawn McGann.

Cell phones on campus serve no purpose

Grade inflation degrades college education

City should improve street traffic situation

Policies should allow more independence

OPINIONS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 256

Opinions editor:
Tom McHenry

To send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org