Undergraduate grade inflation has soared in just the last three to five years, which means that all of us need to adjust our understandings of the meanings and impacts of certain GPAs and the effort necessary to earn certain GPA. The current research does NOT support the idea that increased academic performance accounts for the increase in GPAs.

For example, the median undergraduate GPA for students entering law schools nationwide has increased by a full 0.2 points in just the last five years and appears as though it will increase again for the students starting law school this month and next. The median undergraduate GPA for students entering A&M Law was 3.93 one year ago and is rumored to be 3.97 for the cohort starting A&M Law this month. For perspective, UT Law's 2016 median undergraduate GPA for incoming law students was 3.70.

Of course, grade inflation varies by major and institution, but we need to adjust our responses to certain GPAs. A 3.8 GPA used to highly impress me, but now I see so many GPAs at or near that level that I respond with, "Okay, solid, but not amazing."

Students need to understand the changing GPAs necessary for certain goals (Graduate School, jobs, etcetera).
Employers who use GPAs to assess the quality of applicants need to adjust their understandings as well.

Wait till you find out that it is hard for the school to advertise how elite they are, if their Honors program and MBA students don't make As.

Thanks actuallyraisedonafarmag95, very interesting and informative!

When I was in grad school (which wasnt that long ago), my advisor frequently said that US university grades were ridiculously inflated. He said if someone applying for grad school has below a 3.5, you have to ask them "What happened?"

I agree, except that it's become so bad recently due to COVID-induced leniency that I would say 3.9, not 3.5.

b0ridi said:

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https://i.imgur.com/xOJijyX.png


When I was in grad school (which wasnt that long ago), my advisor frequently said that US university grades were ridiculously inflated. He said if someone applying for grad school has below a 3.5, you have to ask them "What happened?"

I agree, except that it's become so bad recently due to COVID-induced leniency that I would say 3.9, not 3.5.

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Your advisor sounds like a **********

What are the undergraduate majors giving out these GPAs?

bmks270 said:

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What are the undergraduate majors giving out these GPAs?

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My screenshot above is STAT 211, statistics for engineering majors

A&M is still better than the elite private schools. I remember being in the Pre Law Society at A&M back in the early 90s and they had and Admissions Counselor there from Texas. She talked about how they liked Aggies because we had a much tougher grade system resulting in more competitive students. She talked about how a Stanford Grad applied and had a 2.9 and they were planning to accept him until they realized he was in the Bottom 2% of his Class. It's only gotten more extreme since then.

This is the endgame of seeing everything, including education as merely another consumer good to pay for. Mommy and daddy paying 100K a year demand high grades in return. "My precious little Timmy didn't get a 3.8? I'd like to speak to the manager" pic.twitter.com/uCP35GHdbl

— Adam Singer (@AdamSinger) August 28, 2023