Let's bring grades down

S tudents' grades are going up. In the 2004-05 school year, 54 percent of students in College of Arts and Sciences classes earned an A minus or higher. Smarter students, a growing desire to take easier classes and professors' fear of tough grades leading to decreased enrollment have all contributed to the problem.

While some of the grade increase may have been deserved, the shift has led to problems. Earning an A, traditionally a mark of significant achievement, no longer garners much respect -- nor should it when the majority of students earn such high marks.

Furthermore, differentiating between students has become increasingly difficult. It is harder for employers and graduate schools evaluating applicants to consider students' grade point averages, with the apparent differences between students becoming smaller and smaller. While this may not seem to be harming Penn students, grades should be a way to measure academic achievement.

Penn officials have pointed out, and rightly so, that each successive class is smarter and more driven than the last. The Class of 2009's mean SAT score was 1390 -- 27 points higher than the Class of 2000. But if the quality of Penn's students is on the rise, the expectations for those students' academic work should rise as well; earning an A should become harder.

The attitude and behavior of Penn students are also to blame for this trend.

A culture of entitlement has developed at Penn and at many of the nation's top institutions. Students believe that because they earned their way into this University they deserve A's. And even when they don't, some students take extreme measures such as badgering teachers after classes have ended, even involving their parents on some occasions.

Reversing grade inflation will take a concerted effort by faculty and administrators as well as a changed attitude from students.

At Princeton University, the administration hascapped the percentage of A's students can receive in each class. If Penn officials implement some type of similar measure, they must protect students' futures by conducting a far-reaching public-relations campaign to ensure employers and graduate schools become aware of the heightened value of A's earned at Penn.

A number of companies, fellowships and other post-graduation options require minimum GPAs from applicants. If officials take action on grade inflation, Penn's Office of Career Services would have to do everything possible to make sure that such organizations know a 3.5 GPA at Penn means more than it used to.

Because right now, it's just about average.

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