<p>@ ucbalumnus
“However, if some majors or courses attract stronger students, then the same grading curve for all majors and courses may distort the information provided by the grades.”</p>
<p>Standardizing the curve would cause some distortion, as you pointed out, but it would be less distorted than it is now. </p>
<p>What seems to be happening currently is that the most difficult majors such as Engineering majors tend to have lower average grades than easier majors. This serves to push out weaker candidates, but significantly distorts GPAs by major. </p>
<p>So, given that this happens at many Universities, what is the purpose of the GPA? Why do schools track it and publish it as a key metric? Perhaps it is just a poor traditional measure that is too entrenched to be changed?</p>