Duke Professor Releases Data on Grade Inflation at 34 Colleges

Stuart Rojstaczer, a professor of environmental science at Duke University, hasn’t given a student a C in more than two years, and he finds himself giving plenty of A’s. He is the first to admit that he is part of a nationwide problem of grade inflation, but he says that the only way to change things is to get universities to work together to deal with the issue.

As a step in that direction, Mr. Rojstaczer is trying to highlight the scope of the problem by compiling a database of average grade-point averages over time at various four-year colleges and placing the information on his Web site, GradeInflation.com. So far, he has data from 34 colleges, some of it going as far back as the 1960s.

Mr. Rojstaczer says he’s found grade inflation at all types of institutions -- large, small, public, and private. Less-selective colleges tend to report lower average GPA’s than more-selective institutions, “but they’re all rising,” he says. “Every school that I can find that has data available shows grade inflation.”

The numbers contradict those who blame affirmative action for grade inflation, he says. In fact, grade inflation actually waned a bit at many institutions during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, when the numbers of minority students at those colleges were increasing.

The latest wave of grade inflation started around the same time that colleges began operating more like businesses, Mr. Rojstaczer says, treating students like customers who bring in revenue. Today, students and parents demand high grades, and professors are reluctant to buck the trend.

“I’m not grading honestly, but if I were to grade honestly, I would be unreasonable because of the context of my institution and all institutions,” he says. “It’s simply not fair to my students to give them a grade that’s off the charts in relation to other professors. A C is the mark of Cain on a college transcript, so why would I want to do that to my students?”

The first step toward dealing with the issue is for institutions to admit that there is a problem, which they are starting to do, says Mr. Rojstaczer.

But what is the next step?

“We could simply create a new grade, the ‘double A’ or the ‘uber A,’ and we could reserve that for exceptional performance,” he says. Or, “you could have [professors] wear a scarlet A if they were easy graders, but I think that’s going too far.”

Background articles from The Chronicle:

• Reports of Grade Inflation May Be Inflated, Study Finds (7/12/2002)
• Harvard Raises the Bar to Curtail Grade Inflation (6/7/2002)
• Harvard Releases Report on Grade Inflation, Promises to Take Action (11/21/2001)
• Harvard U. Will Make Professors Justify Their Approach to Grading (10/24/2001)
• Duke U. Considers Revised Plan to Curb Grade Inflation (9/26/1997)
• Efforts to Curb Grade Inflation Get an F From Many Critics (7/25/1997)

Opinion:

• The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation (11/8/2002)
• When Intellectual Life Is Optional for Students (4/20/2001)
• Grade Inflation: It’s Time to Face the Facts (4/6/2001)
• Professors Are Unconvincing in Shielding Their Interests (3/2/2001)