Midwest Chick's Place

(A.K.A. Non-Original Rants)

–Co-opting good stuff from all over the ‘Net and maybe some original thoughts—ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

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Harvard’s grade inflation

It’s been a poorly kept secret for decades that Harvard has been rife with grade inflation and that you had to be a complete moron to not graduate with honors (95+% of Harvard students have some kind of honor on their diploma).

Surprisingly enough, Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Education released a report on their grade inflation:

More than half of all grades awarded at Harvard College are now A’s — a sharp climb from years past that the university’s top undergraduate official says is eroding the school’s academic culture.

A new report from Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Education, released Monday, found that roughly 60% of grades given to undergraduates were A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and less than a quarter 20 years ago.

“Current practices are not only failing to perform the key functions of grading; they are also damaging the academic culture of the college more generally,” said Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh, who authored the 25-page report.

Not surprising were Harvard students’ childish reactions to this report:

Sophie Chumburidze ’29 said the report felt dismissive of students’ hard work and academic struggles.

“The whole entire day, I was crying,” she said. “I skipped classes on Monday, and I was just sobbing in bed because I felt like I try so hard in my classes, and my grades aren’t even the best.”

…

Kayta A. Aronson ’29 said stricter standards could take a serious toll on students’ mental health.

“It makes me rethink my decision to come to the school,” she said. “I killed myself all throughout high school to try and get into this school. I was looking forward to being fulfilled by my studies now, rather than being killed by them.”

The first one figured it was better to skip classes and cry and the second one thought she was going to skate one she got in (and she wasn’t altogether wrong).

Yes, getting into Harvard is basically making connections with the eliterati and has, for a very long time, not been an educational experience. And due to this, Harvard has begun to stand out as the epitome of everything that is wrong with the modern post-secondary educational system.

The fact that the report saw the light of day is actually astounding. Let’s see if they follow through.

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Midwest Chick

11 responses to “Harvard’s grade inflation”

  1. TRoy Avatar
    TRoy

    It doesn’t make for good collegiate finance when little Johnny- no matter how dumb he may be- can’t pass his classes with good marks. Never mind that little Johnny doesn’t have what it takes. Academia must make allowances to stay solvent. What would you have them do- maintain high standards? They are in the business of churning out a large number of psuedointellectuals each year. Compromises must be made.

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  2. RickeyG Avatar
    RickeyG

    Having taught at a private college about 15 years ago (mostly during Obama’s first term), I can say that at least some of the grade inflation is due to pressure on faculty to keep students in their seats. Don’t ever let one drop out, that means a reduction in tuition paid.

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  3. Cappy Avatar
    Cappy

    Yep, gotta keep up the participation trophies for Tucker VanHuesen Legacy III and TraNiSha DefirmativeAction…

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  4. Harbinger Avatar
    Harbinger

    Before there was indoctrination, there was education.

    In the times long ago, there were “weeding-out” courses in every STEM discipline. At the fine, old institute where I earned my undergrad degree, the earliest was EE101. In my class, 55 went in, of whom a total of 16 crawled out with a passing grade. Just two A’s, and they were grudgingly tendered.

    Calc 201 (Diff Eqs) was even worse. On the first day of class, the professor announced that there would almost certainly be no A’s awarded. His reasoning was that if a student were to be awarded an ‘A’ it could only mean that the student was as proficient with the material as the master himself. And that, he insisted, was nigh on impossible.

    No trophies for participating. No consolation prizes. You swam, or you sank. I hold a few other degrees, but that old, yellowed diploma from the institute still hangs proudly in the den, symbolizing the crowning achievement of my academic life.

    Harvard can eat rocks.

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  5. Unferth Avatar
    Unferth

    A professor of statistics (IIRC) who had taught at NYU for 50+ years was fired by the department head (one Mark E. Tuckerman) to appease some DEI students who complained the course was too “hard”. Mind you the professor had been teaching and grading the same way for decades. But good old Mark fired the professor rather than uphold anything resembling academic standards. I wonder if Mark would have fired the professor if the students were white.

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  6. Don Curton Avatar
    Don Curton

    Harbinger – I got my Chem Engineering degree in 1990. Same story, there were 3 or 4 designated weed-out classes early on in the curriculum designed to reduce the overall engineering class size to something manageable and to focus only on the students good enough to go the distance. Out of several hundred starters, there were less than 40 grads in that year for Chem E.

    Seems to be hit or miss with current year engineers, I’ve seen good and bad. But I think engineering is the one area that still adheres to the standard.

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  7. Midwest Chick Avatar
    Midwest Chick

    TRoy–That’s the problem. Students became customers instead of students so academia lost is rigor trying to keep them in the seats.

    Rickey–There is a lot of truth in that. See my comment above.

    Cappy–True!

    Harbinger–That’s when a degree meant you actually learned something.

    Unferth–I remember reading about that. I doubt it….

    Don–I do think that the engineering profession and professional accreditors are holding the line for standards. I think they understand that people could die if they follow the liberal arts modus operandi.

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  8. Gerry Avatar
    Gerry

    There has always been a Gentleman’s B at Ivy league schools. They just moved it up a notch.

    It is also quite easy to get into one as a sophomore. They have the same freshman dropout rate as most universities.

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  9. Midwest Chick Avatar
    Midwest Chick

    Gerry–Harvard has a 98% retention rate, which is just below MIT and Brown but way above most other schools.

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  10. Gerry Avatar
    Gerry

    Funny, this says 76%
    https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/harvard-university/academic-life/graduation-and-retention/

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    1. Midwest Chick Avatar
      Midwest Chick

      Gerry–From US News https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return

      It’s also what Harvard reported to the feds.

      I cannot see that Harvard would have a quarter of their freshmen not return for their sophomore year. Doesn’t make sense.

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