Colleges and universities are often the villains in the myriad of stories concerning younger generations. Sadly, their bad reputation just keeps getting worse.
To wit: Higher ed schools are overstating student grades and, by extension, their workforce readiness. Professors are handing out grades that do not reflect college-level rigor, often because they’re being bullied to do so by their students. A 25-page report from the Office of Undergraduate Education at Harvard University found that many students were earning A-level grades without doing A-level work. In other words, grades at Harvard have lost their meaning because the highest grades are being handed out like candy.
“According to the report,” says National Review’s Christian Schneider, “over 60 percent of the grades handed out to Harvard undergraduates were A’s, up from only 25 percent just two decades ago.” Why? Because students are pitching fits, accusing professors of discrimination against whatever victim group they belong to, and having their parents pressure the hapless academic.
This grade inflation means that students aren’t ready for the workforce. They either can’t get hired in their field, or if they do, they often can’t keep up with the demands of the job, bringing the whole team down. Harvard Crimson interviewees labeled the report’s findings as “soul-crushing.” One of them felt like she was only barely keeping her head above water academically, and to discover that even her best efforts were being rewarded with handouts from tired professors was a gut punch.
Schneider eviscerates the professors, laying the blame entirely at their feet. “None of the rampant grade inflation is the students’ fault,” he opines, “no matter how petulantly they might behave when they’ve been given a grade they don’t like. Every kid will take the grade the adults give them. When professors and administrators are intimidated by their students, it is the adults on campus who are both juvenile and delinquent.” He outlines some potential solutions, such as college exit exams. Additionally, potential bosses looking for recent grads could collaborate to create a credentialing exam to vet the acuity of potential candidates.
Schneider’s analysis of the problem and presentation of solutions are excellent. As a former teacher, I have some additional thoughts.
First, while colleges and faculty are definitely to blame for the situation our students now find themselves in as they enter the workforce, they shouldn’t get all the blame. Colleges of all stripes are inheriting a generation of students who have had the standards lowered for them. Higher ed schools, even elite ones, are having to teach incoming freshmen basic skills that they should have learned in high school.
Second, pre-college students are also suffering from grade inflation. Many teachers are being coerced into passing students from one grade to the next, even though they know these kids are not ready. Also, recall during COVID the movement to get rid of standardized testing that universities use to assess academic aptitude.
K-12 education should have higher standards. The downstream effect will be seen at colleges that are producing more well-equipped graduates.
In the meantime, many of today’s students who are paying for lower-quality higher education have nothing to show for it — no job in their field, and little to no hope of earning enough money to pay off those substantial college loans.
