The Pernicious Effects of Grade Inflation

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | November 28, 2025 | Richard K. Vedder

[karpov]

Higher education is suffering from many woes, and the federal government (and sometimes Donald Trump in particular) often gets much of the blame for them. But one factor that, in my judgment, is ultimately responsible for much contemporary collegiate angst probably cannot be primarily blamed on the feds: the effects of grade inflation.

I would submit that this affliction is the predominant single factor in the precipitous decline in student learning in American colleges and universities.

Combined with long-term rising fees for college attendance, grade inflation has made universities an increasingly dubious value proposition: Attendees, their parents, and the public are paying a lot for each bit of knowledge, wisdom, and virtue gained in the college years.

This problem made the news recently when the dean of undergraduate education at Harvard, Amanda Claybaugh, released a report noting that a large majority (over 60 percent) of grades awarded to undergraduates recently were “A’s,” compared to just 25 percent 20 years ago. The report concluded that the current grading system is “damaging the academic culture of the College.”

Rival Yale’s data are seemingly even worse, with 80 percent of grades awarded in 2023 being “A” or “A-.”

My first reaction: This problem has been festering for at least half a century. Why has it taken so long to recognize and do something about it?

Before getting into too much detail, I wish to emphasize that grades are primarily a very useful and important information device, one that, properly functioning, should allow observers (such as tuition-paying parents or scholarship donors, potential employers, or graduate and professional schools) to separate the best and brightest of students, as determined by their academic performance, from the less distinguished ones.

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TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: college; gradeinflation

[goo goo g'joob]

bring back the “Bell Curve” for all grading

[alternatives?]

DEI hiring makes even correct grading nearly useless.

[TexasFreeper2009]

grade inflation was inevitable as soon as woke policies demanded colleges start letting in blacks who were not smart enough to get in on their own. Because otherwise, they would have simply failed immediately, and the college would have been accused of failing blacks disproportionately.

[Socon-Econ]

I would rather hire a foreigner without grade inflation or DEI than an entitled American with grade inflation or DEI. If that upsets Bannon or World Net Daily, so be it.

[jmaroneps37]

This is so rampant in the Ivy League that most of them Don’t accept theory own undergraduates into their post grad progr a Ms because they KNOW the student and the school have collaborated in a fraud.

[ridesthemiles]

WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL—_THRU HIGH SCHOOL—ALL GRADES WERE BASED UPON 100 POINTS, ETC.

WHEN I ATTENDED NIGHT SCHOOL FOR ACCOUNTING 11 YEARS LATER-—STUDENTS—YOUNGER THAN I-—ASKED IF THE GRADING WOULD BE “ON THE CURVE”. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT.

TEACHER SAID “ON THE CURVE”.

MYSELF & ONE OTHER STUDENT “BECAME THE CURVE” THEY HATED US. WE GOT 98=99 CONSISTENTLY. I LOVED IT.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Folks are under the misapprehension that colleges exist to provide an education. This is false. They exist to vacuum up money from the US government through loans and from foreign governments through full tuition for foreign kids, thanks to Obie from Nairobi - in return they provide a credential that might or might not lead to a job. Actually grading student work would interfere with that process, so they stopped doing it - can’t vacuum up more bucks from kids that drop out, after all. Besides, who cares if a gender studies grad actually knows anything useful - not that hard to pull the handle at Starbucks, after all.

[clearcarbon]

"I would rather hire a foreigner without grade inflation or DEI than an entitled American with grade inflation or DEI."

When teacher's unions start manufacturing students the way Detroit car makers used to manufacture cars no one should be surprised if employers start to prefer foreign models having better quality control.