Grade inflation at SC

[hoosier]

Fellow alums may be as shocked as I was with the last line in this article. It's hard to believe the whole school averages a 3.01 GPA.

Back in the "good ole days" the "Gentleman's 'C'" was almost acceptable, when the school GPA was less than 2.5.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Things were not quite as rosy in the classroom this past semester for South Carolina athletes, including the football and men's basketball teams.
The school said the overall grade-point-average for its 457 athletes was 2.823 last term, slightly lower than the 2.865 mark posted a year ago.

Grades for the football and men's basketball team also dipped in the recently concluded semester. Coach Lou Holtz's team posted a 2.381 GPA, down from its fall semester record high of 2.511 set a year ago. Men's basketball had the lowest GPA this term, 2.220, of South Carolina's 17 sports teams.

Coach Dave Odom's team was at 2.49 for the fall semester of 2001.

Eight of South Carolina's teams had a GPA of at least 3.0 - or a B average - on a scale of 4.0. Women's golf led the way at 3.532. Then came women's swimming (3.377), men's tennis (3.297), women's soccer (3.283), men's swimming (3.233), men's golf (3.152), softball (3.071) and women's tennis (3.028).

The rest of the teams were equestrian (2.951), volleyball (2.949), women's track (2.918), men's track (2.849), baseball (2.848), men's soccer (2.802) and women's basketball (2.545).

The overall GPA for full-time students at the university was 3.01 for the fall semester.

[Kevin]

In some of my classes we've discussed this at length. While I agree that it does happen to some degree I also think that the concept that "C" should be the average grade is wrong.

They require a 2.75 GPA to graduate... so if I just made what the teachers told me was "acceptable" they'd never let me have a diploma

[oceanphi01]

Hmmm...it sounds kind of fishy to me. The only requirement here is if you have a scholarship, you have to stay above a 2.8 to keep it and if you drop below a 2.0, the school puts you on academic probation, meaning you lose some financial aid until you can bring your GPA up. I guess the big question for me is how many people attend the school and how big are the teams? Because that might help with understanding the whole school GPA average....

[sugar and spice]

I think that a 3.0 is a fairly common average GPA for a university to have. I'm pretty sure our all-university average is even higher.

People complain about college grade inflation a lot (I remember it being a huge deal at a couple of the Ivies a few years ago) but what they don't seem to recognize is the fact that the average college student these days is infinitely more prepared for college than the average student 30 years ago. When my dad attended the University of Wisconsin 30 years ago, you pretty much had to have a GPA over maybe 2.5 to get in, and that was it. These days you generally need at least a 3.5, above-average test scores and a decent list of extracurriculars, minimum. And don't even get me started on what it takes to get into a really good school these days . . . being valedictorian isn't nearly enough anymore. The kids going to college these days are used to being overextended, they're used to studying all night long, and they're used to being the cream of the crop. That's usually why college GPA averages are so high, not because colleges have gotten that much easier.

Now whether or not the reason that so many high school students have 4.0s is due to high school grade inflation, I don't know, and I'm sure it varies from school to school. I think more of it has to do with the increasing emphasis on workaholism of our culture, though. My parents wouldn't have dreamed of pulling an all-nighter in high school, but me and my sister both did it multiple times. And there have been tons of studies done about the increasing homework load that students these days are expected to deal with.

[Coramoor]

There are a few reasons behind a higher gpa now than a few decades ago...I think the most prominent reason is because as more highschool grads want to go to college/universities, those schools can raise the bar on minimum requirements. Therefore only the 'cream of the crop' can get in.

I do have a problem with athlete's though. Simply put, I don't believe that most of them earn their grades. Some few, very very very few might, but the large majority (at least when speaking of football/basketball/baseball etc) are morons who only pass b/c the university want's them to play...

[madmax]

Schools also dummy up there scorecards. Many schools have gone from a 4.0 grading scale to a 4.5 grading scale.

[DGMarie]

I can remember in the 90's the school had nearly 30,000 students. I'm proud to say *my* GPA was 3.9 (someone has to kill the curve, I guess!) But athletes always get a rap because a lot major in Football and that's about it.


Recently it was announced that schools in SC ranked last in the nation. We used to be 49th and we used to say "Thank God for Mississippi!" Not anymore...

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
. And don't even get me started on what it takes to get into a really good school these days . . . being valedictorian isn't nearly enough anymore. The kids going to college these days are used to being overextended, they're used to studying all night long, and they're used to being the cream of the crop. That's usually why college GPA averages are so high, not because colleges have gotten that much easier.

Now whether or not the reason that so many high school students have 4.0s is due to high school grade inflation, I don't know, and I'm sure it varies from school to school. I think more of it has to do with the increasing emphasis on workaholism of our culture, though. My parents wouldn't have dreamed of pulling an all-nighter in high school, but me and my sister both did it multiple times. And there have been tons of studies done about the increasing homework load that students these days are expected to deal with.

I've pulled 3 all nighters in almost 4 years of college, compared with the at least 10 that I can remember pulling in HS. When I think about all the stuff I had to do in HS and compare that to college, it seems like a breeze (add to the fact that I hated my HS, and I was counting the days till graduation). Kids now have been so broken down, they can succeed in college with considerably less effort than in generations past. Also, they know how to "play the game" of boosting GPAs.

I also feel that, at schools that had a plus/minus grading system, those can inflate gpas. I attended a school (for one semester) that had the system, and my classmates' GPAs were all 3.9 and higher. I was impressed...until I realized that A pluses were 4.3. Not so impressive, and another reason to eschew the plus/minus system. Also, at schools where the pass/fail option can be used freely, I have known people who will take the class they know they'll make an A in, and the rest pass/fail. One A=4.0, or in some schools, 4.3.

I guess we're lucky at my school. GPAs are not calculated unless you want to go abroad (3.0 average required) or are PBK. We don't assign honors based on GPA. So, I didn't have to calculate mine until I was applying to grad school...

[BSUPhiSig'92]

Grade inflation is still a hot topic of discussion on many campuses (especially with faculty). I know the current President of Harvard has raised the issue. One faculty member I know swears it is because so many more classes are graded on "the curve" than before.