In Short

Published Oct. 13, 2017

The percentage of A AND A+ GRADES given to undergraduates rose from 27 percent in 2014–15 (when Princeton reversed its “grade-deflation” policy) to more than 30 percent in 2016–17. The percentage of A- grades stayed about the same, while grades of B+, B, and B- decreased, according to figures compiled by the Office of the Dean of the College.

“Increased grade compression at the top of the grading scale,” the office said in a report, “makes it challenging to distinguish among our best students when awarding honors and prizes at both the University and department levels.”

The grade-point average across all courses rose from 3.390 in 2014–15 to 3.435 last year, with humanities courses compiling the highest average GPA and natural sciences the lowest.

Several student groups are participating in DISASTER-RELIEF EFFORTS. As of early October, students affiliated with Princeton for Puerto Rico had raised $6,500 to help rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and the Princeton University Mexican Student Association (PUMSA) had raised about $5,300 for earthquake-relief efforts in Mexico. (Both groups have set up Venmo accounts for donations: For PUMSA, send to @pu-mexhelp with the title mexdonation. For Princeton for Puerto Rico, send to diego-negronreichard.)

In addition, 10 students plan to travel to Houston during fall break with the Center for Jewish Life to join volunteer work following Hurricane Harvey.

Published in the Oct. 25, 2017, Issue

2 Responses

Philip Weinstein ’62

6 Years Ago

A Grading Problem

As a Princeton alumnus and a retired college professor (43 years at Swarthmore), I was disturbed to learn that “the percentage of A and A+ grades given to undergraduates rose from 27 percent in 2014–2015 to more than 30 percent in 2016-2017” (On the Campus, Oct. 25). Even more dispiriting than this news was the response by the Office of the Dean of the College to it: “Increased grade compression at the top ... makes it challenging to distinguish our best students when awarding honors and prizes.” Wow, what a problem! Current students are so brilliant that it is really difficult to identify the best and give them their awards.

Does anyone believe that 30 percent of Princeton’s grades deserve to be in the A and A+ categories? When did the young become so smart that half of the traditional grading schema fell into irrelevance? Is it hopeless to imagine that a dean’s office might have responded otherwise? That rather than pass over the rampant grade inflation manifest in this data, that office might have sounded an alarm? That the office might have worried that the harder work of assessing is being replaced by the easier work of affirming? It’s true that affirming makes everyone feel better, though at an intellectual cost that Princeton should recognize and try to resist. The kind of honor at stake in grading goes way beyond the awarding of “honors and prizes.”

Norman Ravitch *62

6 Years Ago

The refusal to give accurate...

The refusal to give accurate grades to college students (and all students) probably is the result of a number of cultural and psychological factors. Excellence may be regarded by some as a means of protecting the elite students from minorities. Others may find it hard to be judgmental, where being judgmental about learning should be the first criterion of a professor. But in general, concern for excellence, like concern for truth, does not go well with democratic inclinations and values. The meaninglessness of grades and letters of recommendation has been going on for a very long time. Professor Weinstein taught for 43 years, I taught for about 38 years. Nothing he writes is unfamiliar to me, but I wonder what has made him so concerned now, when it has been a problem for a very, very long time.