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IIR, grade inflation was supposedly started by the Vietnam-era draft exemption rules - students without high grades lost their exemptions, and professors and co
by bell-cot 9mo ago
IIR, grade inflation was supposedly started by the Vietnam-era draft exemption rules - students without high grades lost their exemptions, and professors and colleges were often reluctant to "send them off to die".
Unfortunately, nobody at the table cared much about getting it under control - let alone rolling it back - after the draft was eliminated in '73.
With all the recent stories about Harvard Literature majors being unable to focus long enough to actually read literature, rampant cheating with AI, etc. - maybe they should just give A+'s to all students paying full tuition, A's to those paying up to 80% full tuition, and so on.
And recruiters & such should regard every grade above a 'D' as "occasionally bothered to show up".
- bookofjoe 9mo agoRe: >With all the recent stories about Harvard Literature majors being unable to focus long enough to actually read literature See: >The Film Students Who Can No Longer Sit Through Films https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/college-students-movies-attention-span/685812/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/college-students-m... https://archive.ph/x9GLZ https://archive.ph/x9GLZ
- bell-cot 9mo agoThe Atlantic seems to give at least some coverage to the good-news side of this - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-book...