To mark the occasion, I am sharing with you my reflections on rampant grade inflation at American universities—and the surprising step we should tak

Abolish Grades (A Modest Proposal) - Yascha Mounk

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2024-09-03 02:30:03

To mark the occasion, I am sharing with you my reflections on rampant grade inflation at American universities—and the surprising step we should take to tackle the problem.

And for those of you who want to keep yourself—or your loved ones—sane in the coming academic year, I’m including a special offer: Take out a subscription for yourself, or for your daughter / nephew / family friend who is heading back to college, and get 25% off!

The statistics speak for themselves. In 1950, the average GPA at Harvard was estimated at 2.6 out of 4. By 2003, it had risen to 3.4. Today, it stands at 3.8.

The more elite the college, the more lenient the standards. At Yale, for example, 80% of grades awarded in 2023 were As or A minuses. But the problem is also prevalent at less selective colleges. Across all four-year colleges in the United States, the most commonly awarded grade is now an A.

Some professors and departments, especially in STEM disciplines, have managed to uphold more stringent criteria. A few advanced courses attract such a self-selecting cohort of students that virtually all of them deserve recognition for genuinely excellent work. But for the most part, the grading scheme at many institutions has effectively become useless. An A has stopped being a mark of special academic achievement.