New Manhattan Institute Issue Brief: Reversing University Grade Inflation

NEW YORK, NY – When everyone gets an A, no one stands out. At elite schools today, for example, 85% of grades at Harvard and 79% at Yale fall in the A-range. Grade inflation has transformed an A from a mark of excellence into the average grade at many U.S. universities. When schools undermine grades as a meaningful signal of student achievement, they make it harder for employers and graduate schools to distinguish top candidates. 
 
Neetu Arnold, a Manhattan Institute Paulson Policy Analyst, examines the grade inflation dilemma in a new issue brief. Arnold identifies several drivers of the trend:  

• Historical factors: Vietnam War-era draft deferments and the rise of pass/fail systems 

• Institutional pressures: Universities compete for students and easier grading attracts enrollment 

• Student evaluations: Professors who grade generously receive better ratings, affecting their job security 

• Student behavior:Students choose easier courses to maximize GPA 

Grade inflation will not be corrected by a handful of universities adopting stricter grading policies because peer institutions can continue this bad practice. Thus, Arnold recommends two top-down reforms to combat the collective action problem when personal incentives conflict with the system’s best interests:  

1. State regulation of grade inflation at public universities, where institutional incentives otherwise discourage serious internal reform. 

2. Inflation-adjusted GPA, which accounts for grading differences across courses and over time, to realign incentives for both students and professors. 

Arnold also discusses additional solutions including grading caps, reporting median class grades on transcripts, and reducing the weight of student evaluations of teaching. She encourages state lawmakers to implement grade inflation reform to restore trust and reward merit in public universities. 

Click here to read the full issue brief.