To Give Clearer Picture of Achievement, University Adds More Data to Student Transcripts

Starting next fall, transcripts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will include information about the median grade in each course a student takes, along with students’ rankings by percentile against their peers in every class.

The move to adopt “contextualized transcripts” was approved a year ago by the university’s Faculty Council. On Friday, the council approved additional legislation that defines what data will appear on the new transcripts.

Beginning in 2012, each student’s transcript will include a “Schedule Point Average” both for individual terms and cumulatively. That number represents the grade-point average for the average student taking the same courses. The Schedule Point Average will give an idea of how rigorous a student’s schedule is and how that student performed compared with others in the same courses. (Think strength of schedule for academics, not just basketball.)

Transcripts will also include a breakdown of how often a student has scored above, at, or below the median grade in a course.

“This can only help students as an aggregate, because it makes grading information more objective and nonbiased,” said Andrew J. Perrin, an associate professor of sociology and chair of the committee putting the new transcript system into effect. “There are less incentives for students to take courses that they’re not interested in just in order to change their GPA’s, which we know is a very common practice.”

The new transcripts will show a side-by-side comparison of the student’s grade next to the median grade in each course. That comparison can help identify instances of grade inflation. Earning an A in a course for which the median grade was A, for example, may not carry the same weight to graduate schools and employers as earning an A in a course for which the median grade was a C.

Also, beginning next fall, the faculty will receive a summary of the grade distribution across all sections of the courses they teach to undergraduates. Mr. Perrin hopes that providing faculty members with a grade report will help curb inflation.

“At the moment, there are very few downward pressures on grades; there are only upward pressures on grades,” he said. “Although this is a gentle pressure, it’s still pressure. I’m pretty optimistic that it will have some effect.”

Graduate and professional schools at Chapel Hill gave their input about what statistics would be useful on transcripts, Mr. Perrin said, but the university didn’t consult any employers for feedback. He said he’s not sure how—or if—employers will use the data, but he expects that the new system will show them that the university is “serious about maintaining and increasing educational quality.”