The Perverse Consequences of the Easy A

"During their final meeting of the spring 2024 semester, after an academic year marked by controversies, infighting, and the defenestration of the university president, Harvard's faculty burst out laughing. As was tradition, the then-dean of Harvard College, Rakesh Khurana, had been providing updates on the graduating class. When he got to GPA, Khurana couldn't help but chuckle at how ludicrously high it was: about 3.8 on average. The rest of the room soon joined in, according to a professor present at the meeting."

"And yet, these students report being more stressed about school than ever. Without meaningful grades, the most ambitious students have no straightforward way to stand out. And when straight A's are the norm, the prospect of getting even a single B can become terrifying. As a result, students are anxious, distracted, and hyper-focused on using extracurriculars to distinguish themselves in the eyes of future employers."

Harvard College's average GPA rose to about 3.8 while many students perform less academic work and skip class. The Classroom Social Compact Committee found that grades are up even as class attendance and coursework effort decline, and many students prioritize extracurriculars over academics. Rising grades make meaningful differentiation difficult, leaving ambitious students with no straightforward way to stand out and making a single B disproportionately frightening. Students report increased stress, anxiety, distraction, and hyper-focus on extracurricular achievements to attract employers. Grade inflation affects elite academia broadly, with Harvard serving as an indicative case for the wider sector.

Read at The Atlantic