Some students’ strong, earned grades are being sacrificed unbeknownst to them in an effort to debunk grade inflation, an ongoing issue at colleges and universities nationwide. In an attempt to address this matter of contention, Leeds School of Business appears to be the unrivaled quarter of the University of Colorado which intentionally lowers students’ test scores to give the illusion of a desired student-body-average GPA.
After conducting a small study via social media, it has become clear to us that our peers at CU are not only largely unaware of any such altercations done to their scores to produce a targeted GPA (including Leeds’ downward grading curves) but also of the underlying issue of grade inflation. Because higher grades are continually being given, like at most US universities, the mean GPA at UC-B has been steadily rising since the founding of the institute, a phenomenon referred to as grade inflation.
Aside from former CU President Hank Brown’s 2006 effort to offset this by putting class ranking on transcripts, the Fall-2010 average GPA at the University of Colorado saw, unquestionably not for the first time, an increase.
As a whole, grade inflation is a difficult matter to tackle (perhaps impossible, if drastic measures aren’t taken such as Princeton’s 2004 deflation policy). Rather than deplore the situation or flaunt gaudy fix-it proposals, we encourage our peers to inform and empower themselves on the topic of grading curves in individual courses by talking openly with professors, TA’s, and other students about the policies that they abide by.
Grade inflation and resulting grading curves at the University of Colorado, especially within the School of Business, is a subject that affects everyone on campus. Choosing to be aware of it is a vital part of students’ time here.
Alison Noon
Boulder
