<p>That depends on your definition of ‘grade deflation’. The rumor is that Chancellor Wrighton recognizes that the lack of name recognition means that WashU has to produce a “higher caliber” graduate to improve its standing and make people take notice, meaning that A’s are not as easy to come by at WashU as they might be at other top-tier schools that are “known.” The joke is that premed students could never get into the WashU Med School because its the toughest to get into in the country and so you need a 4.0, which is near impossible here. It really depends on the department and the professor, but there is no institutionalized grade deflation written on a memo somewhere that has mathematical formulae.</p>