There are very few college courses ¬¬— especially at Syracuse University — that are “an easy A.”

The phrase “easy A” itself seems like a bit of a contradiction, considering that the mark of an A is supposed to signify well above average and outstanding work.

With inflation of grades occurring across college campuses, it seems that the distinctiveness of an A has downgraded. A recent article from USA Today College details this phenomenon citing that “the average GPA at four-year colleges and universities has increased from 2.52 in the 1950s to 3.11 in 2006” and will continue to increase.

According to the article, featuring former professor Stuart Rojstaczer at Duke University, more than 50 percent of the grades given on some college campuses are A’s. While most millennials would find that statistic promising, Rojstaczer strongly disagrees. “(Grade inflation) lowers the intensity and intellectual level in many classes,” he says regarding the negative effects of grade inflation on colleges.

The USA Today article cites that grade inflation is not a new practice. It has a history stemming back as early as the 1960s during the Vietnam War, where professors would give out higher grades to students to decrease their chances of being eligible for the draft.

The most intriguing factor and cause of grade inflation occurred during the 1980s, where Rojstaczer states on his website, gradeinflation.com, that higher education took on “a consumer based culture.”

With students paying the rising costs of their education, they expect a high return on investment in the form of excellent grades. In turn, some professors then feel obliged to comply and lower their grading standards and even course content.

Many people might believe that it is not the grades that are being embellished for college students, but that students across America are generally getting smarter. But Rojstaczer would refute such arguments, with information on his website explaining that, “there is no evidence that students have improved in quality nationwide since the mid-1980s.”

The driving factor behind the unnatural accumulation of A’s by many college students is a reflection of the sense of entitlement many college students possess.

Knowing that we are the gatekeepers of our own success, many students try to persuade their professors to give them high marks. With millennials, the art of lobbying or even arguing for a higher grade from a professor has taken precedence over old-fashioned work ethic. The current college culture reflects the notion that millennials receive grades rather than earn them.

It should not be mistaken that college students should take on a “pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps” mentality when it comes to earning good grades. It is still important to question and discuss the grades given to you by a professor. However, you are never entitled to a specific grade just because you are a tuition-paying college student.

Some colleges have already attempted to take measures into their own hands by capping the number of A’s professors can give to students. USA Today reports that in 2004, Princeton University created a plan “to cap A grades around 35 percent,” while Yale has unsuccessfully introduced similar measures.

Such policies of limiting the number of A’s professors can distribute may also unfortunately limit the number of students who can rightfully achieve such a mark. And still, such policies do little to shift the thinking and culture of entitlement embedded within some college students.

Professor of science at Furman University Christopher Healy best describes the negative, yet unacknowledged trend of grade inflation to USA Today.

“Students don’t know what an A means anymore,” Healy said to emphasize the commonality of the A. “It has no particular significance except everybody agrees that it’s a really good grade.

Nina Rodgers is a sophomore sociology major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at nmrodger@syr.edu.

Published on December 3, 2013 at 1:52 am