A lot of factors would contribute to this. If I'm not mistaken, the US has been seeing record levels of college application / enrollment due to all the boomers

A lot of factors would contribute to this. If I'm not mistaken, the US has been seeing record levels of college application / enrollment due to all the boomers' kids being at that age, which leads to increased competition. Another thing that I've heard from previous generations is that academic success more often now is measured as 'doing better than the other students' rather than actually learning the material well. I know I've had classes where I really didn't know where I stood until the end of the semester when the professor sat down and worked out his curve. Not saying that college was previously a walk in the park, but, especially with all the talk about the declining worth of an undergraduate degree, I'm sure many of us are concerned that merely having a degree with a decent GPA isn't enough anymore.