Posted on 12/31/2022 9:39:51 AM PST by george76
When people think of elite higher education, we think of Harvard University. But, if one academic trend is anything to go by, Harvard is turning into a joke.
A recent column in the Harvard Crimson makes it clear that the university is becoming a glorified academic daycare where every student gets a trophy or, in this case, an A. The average GPA at Harvard is now 3.8 ... out of 4.0, according to Crimson data analyst Aden Barton.
That’s up from 3.3 in 1991. Are we supposed to believe that college students are just that much smarter now than decades ago?
Nope. College, even at the most elite universities, is just getting a whole lot easier. Harvard actually had to abolish the “Dean’s List” because it became such a joke that by its final year, 92% of students were receiving the “award.” The same fate may await GPAs at Harvard, seeing as, according to Barton, “if grade inflation continues at its 2021-2022 pace, for example, the average GPA of the Class of 2028 would be over 4.0.”
This phenomenon is called grade inflation, and it’s not just happening at Harvard. Research by Stuart Rojstaczer has found that grades at almost all colleges have significantly inflated in recent decades, with A's now becoming the most common grade given out.
...
Rojstaczer theorizes that this is in part due to the increasing and exorbitant cost of college, creating an era in higher education in which “students are consumers.” When they’re paying tens of thousands of dollars each year, they feel entitled to good grades and put enormous pressure on colleges to cough them up so they can get good jobs and recoup that investment. (Of course, the flip side is that when good grades become so common, they can no longer serve that purpose!)
Universities are so desperate to keep the money flowing in that they’ll do whatever students want, including giving out A's like candy on Halloween.
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Why does all this matter?
Well, for one, it sabotages the spirit of meritocracy that has long underpinned American exceptionalism. When everybody gets A's, there’s no real reward for those who worked hard or excelled — meaning there’s much less incentive to do so.
It also discourages risk-taking because if you by some chance get a B, it’s suddenly an enormous outlier. As Barton explains , “grade compression ultimately perverts the liberal arts education, which should center on risk-taking and pushing oneself intellectually instead of sheltering in ‘easy-A’ classes. Harvard hopes that its ‘liberal arts and sciences philosophy encourages students to step outside their comfort zone,’ but how can students ever exhibit genuine curiosity or experiment academically when the potential damage to one’s transcript is so high?”
American economic excellence and innovation have long depended on our renowned higher education system. So, its evident corruption should concern and frustrate us all — not just those of us old enough to have a few B's on our transcripts.
In the 1970’s most graduate students in the economics department earned at least one C in their program. Many had more than one. The department did not have a rule 2 C’s and your out. It was not considered a good grade but also not considered a bad grade.
If the average is not 2.0, a C, then it is a joke (or a farce).
As you state C was to be average—student putting out average effort and doing enough to pass but not outstanding in any way.
A B was for students who exceeded course expectations, did more than what was expected of them. They were above average students.
And an A was for students who far exceeded the course’s and teacher’s expectations, i.e. exceptional students.
Obviously times and grades have changed.
Hahhvahhd is CIA Central.
Harvard now has the mentality of the ‘checked box.’ On every form there are boxes to be checked, and one cannot proceed to the next page without completing the check marks.
I remember a caller on a radio program. He was a math/computer major, and he was taking everything online. He was also in South Korea. The first vaccines were available, and Harvard was insisting that all students have proof of vaccination (the Registrar had to check the box). The student tried and tried to explain he was thousands of miles away, and had no intention of leaving South Korea. All classes were online. The Registrar refused to proceed. The Proof-of-Vaccination box had to be checked, or his registration would not be accepted and processed. I suppose the one good thing is the student chose a different university.
It has been for decades now.
Turning? Hell, it is already.
In our high school in the 60s (yes I’m old), the grade scale was:
95-100 - A
88-94 - B
80-87 - C
70-79 - D
Below 70 = F
The grading scale wasn’t really fair as far as college admissions, you could have a 92 average and a ‘B’ GPA or an 86 average and a ‘C’ GPA. There was no grade ‘inflation’, it was more like grade ‘deflation’. However, in our scruffy, blue collar high school, probably 80% never attended college, and the administration viewed their job as baby sitting. If you did make it to college, it was much easier to maintain an ‘A’ or ‘B’ average.
Turning into?
Became.
I am an MIT undergraduate alum and a Harvard PhD alum.
Harvard unfortunately became a BIG joke when it picked Claudine Gay as its next president. A social science propagandist and a sexual-harassment activist—NOT a scholar!!!! The sister of Illinois’ corrupt governor led the committee that picked her!
MIT to this day has NO grade inflation!!
https://alum.mit.edu/slice/grade-deflation-problem
And they picked Sally A. Kornbluth, a cell biologist, as their next president!
https://news.mit.edu/2022/sally-kornbluth-named-MIT-president-1020
Here’s hoping that Dr. Kornbluth does better than the current president, and that Ms. Gay has a VERY short tenure, with her scandals catching up with her!!!!
William F Buckley. Jr. on Harvard.
Note the black and white.
That was many, many moons ago. :-)
My college graded on a curve. Sounds good, but since everyone had to be really smart just to get in, the competition was fierce. Lots of people had to get Ds and Fs that were real smart. The bottom were culled each year. Only 50% of the entering class graduated. And two to three normal courses were crammed into one. You definitely learned a lot.
Grad programs require a B average for entry so the schools inflate the grades to keep the $$$ coming .....
For some years now I have identified the Ivy League as the Daycare Center for the Ruling Class. Not just Harvard, though Harvard may be the head wet nurse. It’s hard to get in if you’re a white male but staying in and graduating is a walk in the park.
Wait a second - just which size were the Ramones on?
Turning?
It’s easy. They’ll tell you in the first 5 minutes.
Buckley was a bitter old man who had to go to a 2nd place school - Yale. /s/
It sounds like you attended one of the Military Academies back many years ago.
“You can always tell a Harvard man. You just can’t tell him much.’’
You do know that US Grant’s Presidential Library is at Mississippi State University? Unlike the North, the South embraces its history whether it’s wrong or right. Harvard still shows animosity towards those that graduated from the university that served the Confederacy. One caveat, a Harvard professor researched secession and came to the conclusion that the South was right and Lincoln’s actions were wrong.
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