Grading in College

Our children are getting much better grades in college than either my husband or I did. We think it's grade inflation. They say that they're just better students. Who's right? -- Inflated Grades
Answer: Depending a bit on when you graduated, you are most likely correct. Stuart Rojstaczer, a professor at Duke University, has studied grade inflation. You can visit his Web site at www.gradeinflation.com to see specifically how schools have inflated grades since 1991.
Professor Rojstaczer reached these conclusions: There is more grade inflation at private colleges than public schools. Most private and public schools graded on average very similarly until the late 1950s or 1960s. His grade inflation chart shows that in the 1930s, the average GPA at American colleges and universities was about 2.35. By the 1950s, the average GPA was about 2.52. GPAs took off in the 1960s with grades at private schools rising faster than public schools. Increases in GPA lulled in the 1970s but began to rise again in the 1980s at a rate of about a 0.10 to 0.15 increase in GPA per decade. The grade inflation that began in the 1980s has yet to end.