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sac · 10-10-2006, 10:06 PM

There are two issues that often get confounded: grade inflation and honors inflation. The criticism of Harvard, for example, stemmed from the statistic that about 90 percent of students there at one point graduated with honors.

So, to answer your question about Columbia. Yes, there is grade inflation. I've read that more than 50% of grades received are in the A range, and that there are very few Cs. In many classes, the curve is set so that the median is a B or a B+ or, at worst, a B-, rather than a C. So, most people get As and Bs. However, that does not mean there is honors inflation, because the university restricts the percentage who can graduate with honors. Princeton, in contrast, has set a percentage for the number of As given out in each course.

10-10-2006, 10:06 PM	#3
sac Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Berkeley, CA Threads: 18 Posts: 1,329	There are two issues that often get confounded: grade inflation and honors inflation. The criticism of Harvard, for example, stemmed from the statistic that about 90 percent of students there at one point graduated with honors. So, to answer your question about Columbia. Yes, there is grade inflation. I've read that more than 50% of grades received are in the A range, and that there are very few Cs. In many classes, the curve is set so that the median is a B or a B+ or, at worst, a B-, rather than a C. So, most people get As and Bs. However, that does not mean there is honors inflation, because the university restricts the percentage who can graduate with honors. Princeton, in contrast, has set a percentage for the number of As given out in each course.