It is so easy to get an A at Harvard University now that the typical grade there is an A. Back in the 1990s, the typical grade at Harvard was a B. The Washington Examiner reports:
When people think of elite higher education, we think of Harvard University. But, if one academic trend is anything to go by, Harvard is turning into a joke.
A recent column in the Harvard Crimson makes it clear that the university is becoming a glorified academic daycare where every student gets a trophy or, in this case, an A. The average GPA at Harvard is now 3.8 … out of 4.0, according to Crimson data analyst Aden Barton.
That’s up from 3.3 in 1991. Are we supposed to believe that college students are just that much smarter now than decades ago?
Nope. College, even at the most elite universities, is just getting a whole lot easier. Harvard actually had to abolish the “Dean’s List” because it became such a joke that by its final year, 92% of students were receiving the “award.” The same fate may await GPAs at Harvard, seeing as, according to Barton, “if grade inflation continues at its 2021-2022 pace, for example, the average GPA of the Class of 2028 would be over 4.0.”
This phenomenon is called grade inflation, and it’s not just happening at Harvard. Research by Stuart Rojstaczer has found that grades at almost all colleges have significantly inflated in recent decades, with A’s now becoming the most common grade given out. . . .
Universities are so desperate to keep the money flowing in that they’ll do whatever students want, including giving out A’s like candy on Halloween.
Some branches of Harvard have given out more A’s than B’s for many years. An LU blogger who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1994 had a B+ average, but he graduated in the bottom third of his class. A B+ average was actually a rather low grade for Harvard Law School. In his evidence class, every student received an A (including him), except for one unlucky student received a B+. No one in that class received a grade of B or lower. That class was taught by Professor Charles Nesson, the author of an evidence textbook and a pioneer in the field of cyber law.
