Every generation has their narrative.
The baby boomers loved sex, drugs and rock and roll. Gen X has never known life without a computer. Millennials get a trophy for everything.
“Everyone gets a gold star,” ASUI President Max Cowan said. “That culture has changed the way grades are perceived.”
Rodney Frey, an ethnography professor at the University of Idaho, said one topic in particular comes up as professors begin to review their syllabi for the fall semester: grade inflation.
Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy have conducted some of the most comprehensive studies of grade inflation in the country. They are often the go-to sources when the debate comes up, according to the New York Times.
Their research shows that students” grades have risen dramatically even as students are reporting the time they spend studying each week is at an all-time low. The trend, according to Rojstaczer and Healy”s research, began in the 1970s, when they said professors hesitated to give out lower grades since academic failure could send young men to Vietnam.
They claim grade inflation is most prevalent at pricey private universities, overtaking even elite public schools. This raises the question – is an increasingly hefty price tag on higher education leading students to expect good grades as long as they pay the bill?
Frey doesn”t think so.
Frey has heard the stereotypes about America”s most entitled generation. In his experience though, he said students do not simply expect a degree because they show up.
“I”ve been teaching for 35 years,” Frey said. “My students are as excited about their education as I remember them being.”
Grade inflation at UI
According to Dale Pietrzak, executive director of the Department of Institutional Research and Assessment, grade inflation is a perennial conversation at higher education institutions.
Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Jeanne Stevenson said she”s not aware of a current discussion about it at UI, though.
“I would need to see data, but my impression is that the average GPA for students doesn”t really fluctuate a lot,” Stevenson said. “It”s not a compelling dialogue at this time.”
Stevenson”s impression is right on the mark, according to research done by Pietrzak”s department. Data put out by the department indicates there has been a slight increase in cumulative GPAs in recent years – the average GPA was 3.04 in 2014, up from 2.96 in 2001. The increase was small enough as to not be statistically significant, Pietrzak said. Data earlier than 2001 was not available at press time.
UI”s peer institution Washington State University has seen a similar trend in GPAs in the same time frame, according to a study conducted by Rojstaczer. The data he compiled for WSU began in 1970, when cumulative GPAs were 2.81. Those numbers dipped in the 80s, hitting a low of 2.71 in 1984, but have inched upwards since.
Rojstaczer”s data for WSU ends in 2007.
Without comprehensive data, it”s difficult to see the bigger picture – but Cowan said to find evidence of grade inflation, he only has to look as far as his own parents.
“If you talk to my mother, you needed like a 3.5 to get on the Dean”s List when she was in college,” Cowan said, mentioning some colleges now have higher expectations.
Cowan said he thinks departments are raising the bar because the bar is being reached by more students.
A generational shift
Frey teaches a wide range of classes at UI, from ISEM 101 courses to upper-division ethnography courses. He said he”s fortunate to be able to teach honors students, non-honors students, students in his field and students with a completely different set of interests.
“They”re all just absolutely rich with experiences and aspirations,” Frey said. “It”s really exciting.”
On the flip side, Frey said he holds himself to a rigorous standard when assigning grades, focusing on a student”s level of mastery within the course as well as with the university-wide learning outcomes. Frey isn”t a believer of grading on a curve, though he said each student should be measured as an individual.
“If all 30 students in a class achieve the expectations, it”s going to be all As,” Frey said.
While Cowan said he believes students” GPAs have gotten better over the years, grade inflation is not necessarily as negative as it”s made out to be.
“It”s not an indictment of the entire university system,” Cowan said. “Professors aren”t bending to the pressure of a society which demands greater attainment of degrees.”
Pietrzak pointed out that over the decades, grades aren”t the only things that have changed – the student body has changed too. Students now have access to more technology and other resources than ever before, he said.
Cowan said the last two decades have seen a huge federal push for making degrees more accessible, especially through the investment of things like professional and academic advising, writing and tutor centers and disability services.
Suzi Billington, director of UI”s Academic Support and Access Programs, agrees there”s a distinction between grade inflation – professors handing out higher grades – and GPAs that rise simply because students are doing better in school.
Students from marginalized populations and students with learning disabilities are two groups that have struggled to achieve a higher education historically, Billington said. Yet, she said, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and funding from the Department of Education have helped these students and others be more successful.
“That doesn”t affect grade inflation at all,” Billington said of these resources. “It affects college success based on students” ability to be successful, and that”s something different.”
Staying afloat in the job market
If higher grades being given out, the natural question is whether graduates are really prepared for what comes after college.
Greg Walters has worked in human resources primarily at universities for almost 30 years. In that time, he”s hired over 1,200 people. Many of them have been recent graduates into entry-level positions.
Walters, the executive director of UI”s human resources department, said in the past decade he and his colleagues have noticed graduates often expect a higher salary and more opportunity for growth than the job market can offer. This, he said, frustrates them – but only at first.
“They”re very smart, so they learn,” Walters said. “They”re also way more technologically advanced and are more comfortable with change. They”re more accustomed to learning things quicker.”
This summer, Cowan, who sits on the National Campus Leadership Council, helped survey student and business leaders nationwide to learn how to make higher education more accessible and degrees more attainable. One thing that stood out to him, he said, is that leading employers say recent graduates are some of the brightest they”ve ever seen.
Cowan said this led him to wonder whether grades still measure what they need to in order to gauge student readiness in the real world.
“GPA measures a specific set of skills,” Cowan said. “It measures your ability to perform in particular castes and assignments – how well you can write a paper and how well you can give a presentation.”
GPA, however, is much less effective when trying to measure what Cowan calls “soft skills.”
“It”s much harder to measure a student”s ability to survive in a work environment,” Cowan said. “Are they successful and creative collaborators? Do they see the bigger picture? Are they able to work towards a larger goal? That”s not captured by a raw GPA.”
Walters agreed that based on what he has seen in recent years, most universities focus on academics and don”t necessarily prepare graduates for entering the working world.
“I think everybody agrees the pedagogue has grown to recognize the value of extracurricular experiences,” Cowan said. “Everyone emphasizes internships, work experience, service learning projects and participation in clubs and organizations as part of creating an engaged and active citizen.”
For that reason, Cowan said that a 3.5 GPA versus a 3.9 GPA is no longer enough for employers to distinguish a good candidate from a great candidate.
That”s why, Walters said, when he vets job candidates, their grades are rarely his primary concern.
“The workforce is changing,” Walters said. “(Graduates) appreciate what they”ve learned, and they want to put it to use very quickly.”
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @itshannah7