As Texas, the nation’s second largest state, moves through its biennial legislative session, a simple, short transparency bill has been proposed in both houses that would lift the veil hiding a little-known but nonetheless devastating crisis in higher education—grade inflation.
Over the past five decades, grade inflation has been quietly ravaging our universities, debasing academic standards and undermining morale. The national statistics indicate the severity of the crisis. According to Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy’s national, longitudinal studies, in the early 1960s, 15 percent of all college grades nationwide were A’s. Today, that number has nearly tripled—43 percent of all grades are A’s. In fact, an A is now the most common grade given in college nationwide. Moreover, seventy-three percent of all college grades nationwide today are either A’s or B’s. Why? CONTINUE READING HERE