GRADE INFLATION Grade Inflation More Prevalent At Selective Colleges, Study Says By Roxanne Tingir Hoya Staff Writer

A recent report that examines the occurrence and ramifications of grade inflation at U.S. universities has concluded that more selective institutions nationwide such as Georgetown are more susceptible to grade inflation. According to College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jane McAuliffe, Georgetown has been examining the issue.

The study, co-authored by former dean of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Henry Rosovsky and University of Pennsylvania lecturer Matthew Hartley, also examined the increase in uncritical letters of recommendation.

Colleges and universities have “the obligation to make educational improvements when needed and when possible. Simply to accept the status quo is not acceptable professional conduct,” they said in a press release from the American Academy. “We need, if possible, to suggest ways for institutions to initiate reforms that will allow as clear gradation as possible to replace the present confusion.”

According to McAuliffe, the university has been looking into the reality of this situation at Georgetown since last year.

“Last September I asked the College Curriculum Committee to begin a discussion of grading practices at Georgetown College,” McAuliffe said. “This is a complex and difficult issue for which no fast and easy answers exist.”

According to a report on academic standards issued by Georgetown Philosophy Department Chair Wayne Davis in 1997, Georgetown’s grade distribution is significantly higher than the average distribution at many Ivy League schools. A March 1999 Georgetown Independent article cites a 68 percent increase in the number of A’s received between 1984 and 1998.

“There’s a contagion effect,” Economics Professor George Viksnins said. “If the Government department is making it easier, then there’s a psychological effect and the Economics and Math departments will feel they need to make it easier as well.”

Viksnins also said that feelings of egalitarianism and political correctness create an atmosphere that ensures there is no discrimination against any particular groups. The American Academy study, however, points out that favoritism towards minorities has not contributed to grade inflation, as lower-income students and minorities made up a very small fraction of student populations when grade inflation began in the mid-1960s.

Despite rumors of grade inflation at Georgetown, however, the 14 years from 1984 to 1998 saw the average grade awarded increase by only five percent. Such statistics have prompted some students to believe that they merit the increase in grades.

“I don’t think there’s grade inflation at all,” freshman Meghan Sullivan (COL ’05) said. “Based on the amount of work that I put in, I’m getting the grades I think I deserve.”

Still other students such as Dan Sullivan (COL ’04) acknowledge that some Georgetown professors may be distributing unwarranted grades.

“I think that grade inflation is an issue to be examined at Georgetown. I cannot vouch for my friends at other schools because I’m not an authority on how hard they work verses what grades they get,” he said. “However, I think that professors grade more leniently here than they should.”

Rosovsky and Hartley concluded that several variables, including simplified course curriculums, the advent of student evaluations of professors and changes in grading policies were responsible for increased grade inflation. They also said that an increase in the amount of praise in letters of reference is due to a fear of litigation.

“A system that fears candor is demoralizing. Much is lost in the current situation, primarily useful information for students, colleges, graduate schools and employers,” the co-authors said. “Even if those who need accurate information have learned to `work around the system,’ the cost of what prevails today remains high.”

Recommendations to alleviate the grade inflation problem include increased communications among higher education institutions about grading policies, alternative grading systems and the use of standard distribution curves. Yet some professors, including Viksnins, think that such curves are inherently unfair.

“Forcing 10 percent of the students to flunk would be wrong if they attended class regularly and were working hard,” he said.