(Source: Princeton University)So you're an Ivy Leaguer racking up A's left and right. Join the crowd.

Thanks to grade inflation, an A isn't what it used to be. Now they're as common as beer at frat parties. At Princeton, almost half the grades last year were A's. So much for the bell curve. Are students that much smarter, or are professors succumbing to the "student-as-consumer" pressures? Or neither?

Here's what troubles me about grade inflation. I would argue that students should be evaluated against each other, not against some vague notion of what an "average" student's performance might be. The typical Princeton student might be smarter and perform better academically than the national mean, however measured, so it stands to reason that most deserve higher grades. Professors coming to Princeton from a state university might be duly impressed. But if Princeton students are evaluated against their peers, then they can't all earn A's. Not even half should.

Using this rationale, we can clearly see how students stack up against their closest competition. An A at Princeton would actually mean something, and a B wouldn't be so bad. And that same A at Princeton should count for more than an A at the state U. But by eliminating competition for grades and handing out A's like Halloween candy, elite colleges are forcing employers and graduate schools to say "so what?" to a high grade point average.

Let's return to the Gentleman's C and make students earn anything more.

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