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.
They should be forced to pay off student loans along with all other schools that screwed students.
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.
At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.'
He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
Harvard is a close second.
So, now red state colleges are as good as Harvard. I got a BSCS. I only took 1 easy class, weight lifting. I took physics classes cuz I wanted to take them.
sharp as a sack full of wet mice.
Foghorn Leghorn classic.
I graduated from Texas A&M in the early 80’s. Two degrees. One in engineering and one in economics. 4 years in the Corps of Cadets which is equivalent to the military academies.
NO QUARTER when it came to grades. Either you made the grade or you didn’t. No frikking trophies for participation.
I worked with a couple of people that graduated from A & M over the years. Both had very high praise for the quality of the college and the education they received.
My son is one semester away from getting his Engineering degree from USI. Another VERY tough program. He’s a 3.0 + GPA student but did have to take Calc III twice to pass.
You don’t go to an ivy for academics. You do it for connections.
Read JD Vance’s book. Going to an Ivy is why he is in politics. The connections he made helped provide him the means to achieve what he has. If he had gotten his law degree at a public school, he may have had a better education but would likely not have written a book deal or gone into politics.
B students went into middle management because they had a balance between studies and socialization.
A students ended up working for B students because they had little social life and were good at report and execution that actually got the job done.
There was a lot of truth in these statements.
Harvard never churned out skilled persons. The whole point was making those connections to fulfill the accurate prophecy of “its not what you know, its who you know.” They did that quite well.
I had a bit of a chip on the shoulder when I got into a law firm with a managing partner from Harvard and several associates from IVY schools.
So, I subscribed to the Harvard Law Review for a couple of years and read every issue to my delight and amazement at what stupid nonsense passed for academic excellence. I recommend this to anyone. Get access through Google Scholar and you will laugh your ass off. It might as well be written in hieroglyphics for all the sense they make.
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