Grade Inflation Is Overly Hyped at Harvard

The debate over grade inflation at Harvard and, in this case, Valerie MacMillan's article, ("Bursting the Ivy Grade Bubble," Feb. 8, 1996) are ignoring a more fundamental question: What exactly is an "A"? All grades are based on some kind of relative scale, whether or not the syllabus says so explicitly. An A denotes work of the highest level, but compared to whom or what? A C indicates average work, but average for whom?

It seems the first question the Harvard faculty must answer is, what is the standard of judgment? If Harvard students are compared solely with other Harvard students, then certainly grade inflation is extant, for the average grade here should be a C, not a B+. If, however, Harvard students are graded against, say, all American college students, it would make sense that the average grade here is a B+. In fact, it would make sense even if it were A, for Harvard students are the elite, and as such, should be doing work of the highest quality.

There are immediate problems with both approaches. It is not practical to compare Harvard students' work with that of other college students, for how does a Harvard professor know what a student at another school does? If Harvard students were to be compared to others, then to which students? Just other Ivy Leaguers, or students at highly competitive colleges? Also, many would be bothered by the blatant elitism of such a grading system.

So what if Harvard students were just compared with themselves? The grades would fall drastically. A C, however, looks bad no matter what school one gets it from. Obviously, competition would increase, and this is not usually an environment conducive to learning for the sheer value of learning--the university's highest function. Also, Harvard is not similar to high school, in which many disparate ability levels exist; here, all students fall within a very narrow band of ability--exceptional ability--and what is to differentiate one from another? Further, Harvard students deserve some kind of reward (a good grade) for their work, for however "average" it may be for Harvard, it certainly is not "average" for society.

Why not just quit worrying about grade inflation? Strict standards for grading would probably not ameliorate the situation (if such a situation actually exists), and even if they did, they would likely create other problems. The "Gentleman's B" has become widely accepted and recognized not only here at Harvard, but among prospective employers and graduate school admissions officers.

This is no need to start confusing them with an entirely new standard. Instead, why not focus our attention on another idiosyncrasy of Harvard's grading policies that undoubtedly perplexes future evaluators: get rid of the ludicrous 15-point scale and go to the standard 4-point one. --Dave Lehn '99