To examine the grade-inflation hypothesis, they found “a public liberal arts college that required the same core courses and nearly identical end-of-course exams over a period of 12 years.” In two required science courses, exam scores held steady, while grades rose. “The school’s graduation rate grew to 85.9 percent from 83.1 percent during that time, and students’ grade-point averages increased to 3.02 from 2.77.”
Why did grades and graduation rates rise?
Denning and colleagues suggest the policy focus on college completion, sometimes coupled with funding incentives, could be responsible.
In addition, “instructors who give students higher grades receive better teaching evaluations and high-grading departments typically tend to have larger enrollments,” they write.
Lowering standards is “a low-cost way to increase graduation rates,” they write. But grade and degree inflation has long-term costs. An inflated degree will be worth less in the job market.