Glancing at the sign that reads, “Pikes Peak Community College”, I walk up the stairs towards my first class of the day. I arrive early to class, and sit and talk with fellow classmates about what is due. We also ask each other about how we did on the mid-term exam, and we all say we received a hundred percent. I was surprised by their responses because of how difficult the exam was for me. I had no idea how often hundreds or A’s are given to students each year in colleges and universities in America.
In the past 55 years, there have been many indications of grade inflation affecting colleges and universities in the United States. Grades first started to rise in the 1960s, flattened in the 1970s, and rose again in the 1980s (Rojstaczer 68). …show more content…
It now leads students to thinking that the once acceptable B is a “transcript wrecker”, and a C that is “average”, as a complete disaster (Primack 69). U.S. Senator Hank Brown worked towards making grade inflation a priority issue as president of University of Colorado in 2006 and stated, “under the current system at a lot of schools, there is no way to recognize the difference between an outstanding job and a good job. Grade inflation hides laziness on the part of the students, and as long as it exists, even faculty who want to do a good job [in grading] do not feel they can” (Primack 70). Teachers are afraid of “tough grading” due to getting poor student evaluations at the end of the semester (Primack 70). Many would claim that grade inflation is an issue that has no easy fix to it, but there is a solution. Universities and colleges such as Princeton, Wellesley, and Reed provide evidence that fixing grade inflation in America’s universities is not an impossible task (Rojstaczer 69). Major debates on grade inflation have been going on since 1997 and there is still not enough action being taken to solve this …show more content…
Student evaluations can affect the academic career of any professor teaching at a college or university. Students can log on to sites that have reviews on professors that aid in choosing classes for the next semester. These reviews are what professors use in order to make a living. According to James David Ballard’s article on grade inflation, students have become the “educational equivalent” to a consumer (23). Institutions have prioritized the consumer’s needs by changing registration dates, pushing back withdrawal dates, and altering grading policies (Ballard
In the past 55 years, there have been many indications of grade inflation affecting colleges and universities in the United States. Grades first started to rise in the 1960s, flattened in the 1970s, and rose again in the 1980s (Rojstaczer 68). …show more content…
It now leads students to thinking that the once acceptable B is a “transcript wrecker”, and a C that is “average”, as a complete disaster (Primack 69). U.S. Senator Hank Brown worked towards making grade inflation a priority issue as president of University of Colorado in 2006 and stated, “under the current system at a lot of schools, there is no way to recognize the difference between an outstanding job and a good job. Grade inflation hides laziness on the part of the students, and as long as it exists, even faculty who want to do a good job [in grading] do not feel they can” (Primack 70). Teachers are afraid of “tough grading” due to getting poor student evaluations at the end of the semester (Primack 70). Many would claim that grade inflation is an issue that has no easy fix to it, but there is a solution. Universities and colleges such as Princeton, Wellesley, and Reed provide evidence that fixing grade inflation in America’s universities is not an impossible task (Rojstaczer 69). Major debates on grade inflation have been going on since 1997 and there is still not enough action being taken to solve this …show more content…
Student evaluations can affect the academic career of any professor teaching at a college or university. Students can log on to sites that have reviews on professors that aid in choosing classes for the next semester. These reviews are what professors use in order to make a living. According to James David Ballard’s article on grade inflation, students have become the “educational equivalent” to a consumer (23). Institutions have prioritized the consumer’s needs by changing registration dates, pushing back withdrawal dates, and altering grading policies (Ballard