Burst the Ivy Grade Bubble

For most of the last three semesters, the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) has kicked around a proposal intended to curb grade inflation by adding the median grade and size of the class to the transcript.

Theoretically, this proposal would help with grade inflation by encouraging a renormalization of the grade curve and the general return of the B and B- grades (the average grade at Harvard right now is a B+). It might also help students in the sciences, where grades are generally lower than in the humanities.

When Harvard students hear of this and other proposals to curb grade inflation, most ask nervously about the timetable, hoping no changes will affect them.

If history is any indication, there is no need to worry.

While paging through some old Crimsons, I came across an article in October of 1976. The headline: "CUE Hears Plan to Curb Grade Hike."

I read on to learn that a month before I was born, the very same Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) took up the identical proposal (transcript reform) that I spent a good part of the last two semesters hearing about.

In 1976, neither students or faculty members of the committee liked the proposal. With the exception of the names of the committee members, nothing is different today.

One professor worried that the proposal would increase competition among students, the same worry expressed by CUE members today.

A student of the time said that the proposal gives no understanding of the amount of work that goes into the grade. You guessed it: the same argument is being offered today.

One of the most persuasive arguments, then and now, was that the proposal would penalize Harvard undergraduates applying to graduate and professional schools.

According to this line of thought, schools could misunderstand the data, and view a high median in small courses (like tutorials) as inflated, when in fact it reflects a high level of effort and expertise on the part of the students.

Furthermore, Harvard students might be penalized because our grade inflation would be exposed, but that of other institutions would not be.

Good arguments though these may be, the end result is this: the average grade at Harvard is a B+ and no one will do anything about it.

How can we cure Harvard of its paralysis? Basically, in order get Harvard to act effectively, we need to get the entire Ivy League and similar institutions moving in the same direction.

Harvard is not alone in its worry about dealing with grade inflation. The College does not stand out as having especially high grades because most comparable schools have equally inflated transcripts.

And just like Harvard, none of the other schools are going to endanger their students by acting alone to bring down grades.

What needs to happen to take the danger out of the picture is simple: a new standard must be set, and made universal very quickly.

If students from Brown, Yale, Columbia, Stanford and Harvard, for instance, all had the same change made on their transcripts, the danger would be removed.

At the very least, if Harvard transcripts were misinterpreted, those in competition for spots would face the same misinterpretation.

And in the best case, the top schools across the country would return to the days when a B was a good grade and professors could distinguish between work that is merely above-average and work that truly deserves an A.

In order to change the amount of effort equated with specific grades at top schools, Harvard cannot act alone. Schools other than Harvard need to admit that inflation is out of control and reassess what a B means.

It shouldn't be hard for the Ivy's to get together; they colluded on financial aid illegally for many years, to their respective benefits. Now, they have the opportunity to collude on something that would benefit both the institutions' reputations and the general well-being of their students.

In order to make these broad changes, someone must show leadership. The obvious choice is the president of the most prestigious school in the country.

I challenge Neil L. Rudenstine and his counterparts to change history, and actually do something about grade inflation before this issue becomes more of a crisis. If Rudenstine can take some steps toward bringing down grade inflation in the highest echelons of higher education, he will have done something people at this institution have been trying to do since before my birth.

Harvard's president should turn his attention from non-controversies like the benefits of diversity to long-standing, deep-seated problems in higher education.

Otherwise, I have a feeling the Crimson will be publishing articles in October of 2016 about the CUE committee and a proposal for transcript reform.

Valerie J. MacMillan is tired of seeing so many high grades on her transcript.