Special Report: Grades

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College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources |-| College of Business |-| College of Education |-| College of Engineering
College of Liberal Arts |-| College of Science |-| Division of Health Sciences |-| Reynolds School of Journalism

More Stories and Data

Grade inflation cited as a national problem, despite incomplete data

Campus Chat: See what students think about UNR grading

UNR Grade Distribution: Fall 1993-Spring 2009

Grade Distribution by College: Fall 2009 and Spring 2009

Average grades rise during past 50 years

About 40 percent of undergraduate grades at the University of Nevada, Reno last spring were A’s — a statistic some faculty say illustrates a national grade inflation problem devaluing college degrees. Others suggest that the grade distribution could be attributed to high-achieving students or improved teaching methods.

The sheer number of A’s and B’s awarded last semester —  together 76 percent, according to UNR’s Office of Institutional Analysis — is a contrast to Nevada’s typical rankings in national reports on education.

“I think it’s part of a pattern that has been going on for many years and is the case across the country that grade inflation has been troublesome,” said Joe Crowley, UNR president from 1978-2001. “I don’t think it’s a fixable issue. We were not unique or alone in having a grade inflation problem … It’s a problem and what you do about it I just don’t know.”

Click to enlarge.

UNR President Milton Glick said he wouldn’t comment on whether grade inflation is happening at UNR because he hasn’t done the research. Although he said he didn’t expect quite as many high grades as the numbers show, he noted the distribution has been constant for several years.

Some faculty think inflation started long before 1993, the earliest year for which institutional analysis figures are available. They say it stemmed in part from professors’ wanting to keep students exempt from the draft in the ’60s and college becoming more accessible throughout the years.

Glick said he knows grade inflation happened nationally during the Vietnam War because professors didn’t want students forced to serve in the military, but he isn’t sure if the trend made its mark at UNR.

UNR journalism professor Jake Highton, who is known among students and faculty for tough grading, recalled raising the grade of a student who said he’d have to fight in Vietnam if he didn’t pass the class.

Since that era, college has become more accessible to students from low-income households, those with disabilities and non-traditional students.

“I think there is, in many places, a need to understand that students who come from low-income backgrounds or who have grown up in challenging educational surroundings are treated with the understanding that that has been the case,” Crowley said. “I think grading patterns have changed to recognize that fact.”

Professors realize that any students who lose scholarships because of grades might not be able to continue attending college. Crowley said many students go to college to get better jobs, and some professors might try to help them along for that reason.

Professors may also face pressure to give higher grades from their departments and students. If a professor consistently can’t fill up a class, that’s a red flag to deans about the instructor’s performance, Provost Marc Johnson said.

Professors disagree on whether anonymous student evaluations add another incentive to give higher grades.

“There is an underlying pressure that if you are tougher in grading than the rest of the department, your evaluations are going to be lower,” Stacy Gordon Fisher, a political science assistant professor, said.

Vernon Luft, a professor and associate dean in the College of Education, thinks tough graders can still get good evaluations from students.

A professor grades student work. Since the 1960s, grades at higher education institutions around the country, including the University of Nevada, Reno, have steadily been on the rise, leading to accusations from some experts of artificial grade inflation. Photo By Brian Bolton / Nevada Sagebrush

“I think there are some professors that think they need to score easy and grade high to get (good) course evaluations, but I don’t think that’s true,” Luft said. “I think you can have high standards and receive good course evaluations too.”

Aside from professors’ roles in grading, some say that over time, students have started to just expect higher grades. Highton said he’s noticed that his students consider C’s as failing grades instead of passing.

Bill Cathey, who started teaching in the physics department in the late ’60s, has also noticed that trend.

“A C is supposed to be an average grade,” said Cathey, now the vice provost of instruction and undergraduate programs. “Not only at our university but elsewhere, it has sort of disappeared as the average.”

Although some say grade inflation is a problem at UNR, Cathey said he doesn’t know many people who consider it a serious one. Crowley said he doesn’t “lose sleep over it.”

But in the ’80s, some faculty found it to be a pressing issue. In 1986, the university’s criminal justice department established a policy to fight grade inflation. Now, professors in that department can only give 40 percent A’s and B’s in lower-division classes and no more than 60 percent A’s and B’s in upper-division courses, plus or minus 5 percent.

In most departments, however, faculty members set their own grading policies.

“I think our faculty take grading very seriously,” Glick said about current grading practices.

Highton, who said he has been questioned by both students and a college dean for his tough grading practices, said he thinks UNR professors grade too easily.

Noting that he seldom gives A’s, Highton said, “A means excellent. I have few students that are excellent.”

Jerri Cuerden, Valerie Foley, Damian Tromerhauser and Mark Zaski contributed to this report. Jessica Fryman can be reached at jfryman@nevadasagebrush.com

Nevada rankings:

➤ Nevada is 17 percentage points below the national benchmark in workforce preparation, as seen in professional license exams.
➤ Nevada is more than 28 percentage points below the national benchmark in preparing students for graduate schools, as seen in graduate admission exams.
Source: Measuring Up 2004 and 2006.

Related Posts:

• Grade inflation cited as a national problem, despite incomplete data
• Campus Chat: How rigorous is the grading at UNR?
• Grades: Reynolds School of Journalism
• Grades: Division of Health Sciences
• Grades: College of Science