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![David Watson 🥑](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="96" height="96"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
“In 2011, 60 percent of all grades at Harvard were in the A range (up from 33 percent in 1985). By the 2020–21 academic year, that share had risen to 79 percent.”
“Outside observers might still think of grades as an objective assessment of a student’s work, and therefore a way to differentiate between levels of achievement. But many professors seem to conceive of them as an endlessly adaptable participation trophy.”
“Without meaningful grades, the most ambitious students have no straightforward way to stand out. And when straight A’s are the norm, the prospect of getting even a single B can become terrifying. As a result, students are anxious, distracted, and hyper-focused on using
“This has created what [Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda] Claybaugh called a ‘shadow system of distinction.’ Students now use extracurriculars to differentiate themselves from their peers.”
“Without the threat of poor grades, students have largely stopped trying in their courses.”
“For all the hand-wringing about student self-censorship, [a junior’s] peers mostly don’t read texts closely enough to form opinions in the first place. ‘I feel like college has become almost anti-intellectual,’ Melani Cammett, a Harvard international-affairs professor, told me.”
“Now that they know that making college easier doesn’t reduce stress, Harvard administrators are attempting to rediscover a morsel of lost wisdom from the ancient past: School should be about academics.”
They could’ve listened to Harvey Mansfield decades ago!
But it’s good that they’re trying to fix the problem.
As you likely know, this is not solely a Harvard problem.
Nationwide higher education has become a seller of a commodity.
Write out a huge tuition check, and students are "entitled" to "stellar" grades. Simply young people, in far too many cases, buying a credential (that
The best law and business schools (Stanford, Yale, Harvard) are now High Pass/Pass/No Pass.
They want "getting in" to be the only differentiator. The only sorting done shall be done by the admissions committee.
See also: refusal to publish class rank.
Harvard’s peak elitism drives this - it operates under the assumption that Harvard acceptance in and of itself indicates exceptionalism.
There are no “C Students” among “Harvard Men” so why should straight As not be the mean?
If you had shared this even with my generation, no one would've believed that grade inflation could get this far.
one of my favorite parts of wharton undergrad was there was an actual grading curve. probably no longer exists though!
A degree from Harvard represents about as much as a Nobel Peace Prize. Looks good on paper but signifies nothing.
They're laughing at us too, because they know they're lying.
Any attempt to restore meaningful grades would eviscerate their 'equity' goals, and they know it. This is all just PR to try to stop Daddy from taking away their credit cards. 
It's the STEM students who lose the inflation game. This impacts more males, b/c they prefer the STEM majors versus females.
When hyperinflation is rampant central banks replace the currency. Accrediting bodies should create a new grading system.
What’s wrong with that? They are all above average students. College is about pursuing knowledge, not grades.
Harvard, too, has become Lake Woebegon, where all the children are above average.
it is ridiculous, particularly given good grades are easier to get at certain ivy’s than state schools. which is wild, you wouldn’t think that would be the case
