A problematic trend

    What is an A? Or a B, C, D or F? These five designations have dominated the lives of students since they entered schooling. However, according to a recent Boston Globe article by Experimental College professor Phil Primack, Tufts, along with most other universities, has all but eliminated those last three letters. It seems that professors, facing complaints from students and their parents, have become as hesitant to give out C's and D's as they used to be about giving A's and B's. Of course, we're talking about grade inflation, the big elephant in the room.
  Grade inflation is running rampant on college campuses and has been for quite some time. A study encompassing 29 colleges and universities (not including Tufts) revealed an average GPA jump from 3.11 in 1992 to 3.26 in 2002. Tufts has an even higher average GPA: 3.39 for the 2007-2008 academic year.
    Why are universities inflating grades? The simple answer is to please their students. However, the inflation does not just happen because of one person or on one level. Instead, the problem of grade inflation can be traced to professors, administrators, and yes, even us, the students.
  Grade inflation is a self-perpetuating problem, a vicious cycle. Universities want their students to be accepted to the most prestigious medical and law schools so they do not restrict the amount of high grades professors can give out. The last thing professors want is to gain a reputation for giving out a heavy workload and lots of low grades. Additionally, professors do not want to incur the wrath of spurned students and their increasingly omnipresent parents, who are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to attend University X.
    Grade inflation would be a fixable problem if it were localized. But it is not. In addition to all grade inflation created by the tenuous relationship between students and professors, competition between universities creates even more inflation. If University X thinks it sees University Y inflating grades, the natural reaction is for University X to inflate grades as well. With everyone looking over each other's shoulders, grade inflation is hard to stop.
    If the trend that is in place continues, grades will become meaningless. It is already beginning. Whereas A's used to be a mark of perfection or excellence, they are becoming standard. A's should be reserved for those students that go above and beyond what is asked of them. Those that simply meet the minimum requirements should be given B's or C's. Students need to realize that grades are not everything and that by forcing grades to become inflated as such, the grades become worthless.
    The key here is that everyone (students, professors, administrators) is too concerned with how others perceive them, while underplaying what college is all about: learning. Although we cannot advocate Tufts setting out on a crusade  alone to eliminate grade inflation, as this would undoubtedly hurt students in the short term, we believe it is the responsibility of universities across America to come together to set standards to eliminate grade inflation. One college or university eliminating grade inflation does not solve the problem, but if enough join together, then real reform can be effective.