It also coincides with the generation just following those hit by the GI bill, where college suddenly became a thing every kid had to attend, and became a requi

It also coincides with the generation just following those hit by the GI bill, where college suddenly became a thing every kid had to attend, and became a required part of getting any white-collar job. If you didn’t have to go to college to get anything done, things like college desegration would have mattered less (mind, its still important, but college simply wouldn’t have been a significant target for it if it happened in say 1910). That is, overwhelming demand naturally leads to grade inflation (and cost inflation), as the need to ensure graduation regardless of merit increases (because the university became additionally tasked as a trade school). Combined with ofc the private market’s increased reliance on using the university for training versus doing it themselves, internally. But I’m making the case that grade inflation doesn’t need to stop, the dependency on higher education does. Grade inflation is a symptom, as is every other non-merit based operation of it.