Harvard is at it again. The world-class academic institution that has been to known inflate its grades, has been reported to be committing the practice of grade inflation at an all-time high frequency level.
Only nine percent of Harvard's class of 2001 did not receive the honor of cum laude or higher, according to an article in the Boston Globe. The percentage of Harvard students graduating with these Latin honors is more than double that of its Ivy rival, Princeton, where 44 percent of graduates are deemed cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude.
At Tufts, grade inflation is reportedly less rampant. According to Dean Charles Inouye, 50 percent of the class of 2001 received honors. That number is up from 45.5 percent the year before.
By the numbers, it seems getting an A is a more difficult task at Tufts than at Harvard. Although according to the Tufts administration, the current statistics for getting top grades are too high. The average grade given out last year was 3.38 in the fall, and 3.26 in the spring. The cut-off for cum laude is 3.4.
Getting cum laude at Harvard may be a lesser challenge. A B-minus average in one major subject is enough to earn cum laude. And at a university that awards A-minuses and A's to 51 percent of its students, that feat does not appear to be too difficult.
With grade inflation on the rise, numerous Harvard officials have spoken out both for and against the status quo. Henry Rosovsky, a former president and current acting dean at Harvard, told the Globe that "honors at Harvard has just lost all meaning. The bad honors are spoiling the good."
Some Tufts students say, from an outsider's perspective, that Harvard is an institution that focuses on high grades. "I think they put a little too much pressure on their students to succeed," sophomore Jonathan Parker said.
Harvard humanities Professor Stephen Greenblatt believes that Harvard students deserve their high grades. "A very remarkable number of these projects are publishable quality," Greenblatt said. "Is someone who graduates summa cum laude at a less selective university really the same as a summa at Harvard or Yale?"
If that's the story Harvard professors are selling, Tufts administrators aren't buying. "It's just another symptom of their culture of arrogance - image over substance - and it's finally catching up with them," Inouye said. "Everybody in the business knows just how little Harvard students work. They're essentially a lazy bunch. A lot of them aren't even that smart."
Harvard senior Trevor Cox supported Inouye's assertion in the Globe. Cox described a career characterized by an easy grading scheme that has left him with a B+ average. "It's scandalous," Cox said. "You can get very good grades, and earn honors, without ever producing quality work."
"I feel like Tufts is different because if you hand in less than quality work, your grade will reflect it," sophomore Lauren Amira said. "Harvard seems like an elite society where, once you get in, everything is handed to you on a silver platter."
The Tufts Honors Committee has sought to correct grade inflation problems at Tufts. Last spring, the committee identified grade inflation as a problem and has made plans to address the issue this year.
Inouye said the problem the committee faces is the Lake Wobegone syndrome, "where everyone is above average."
"You're all pretty darn smart, well above average," Inouye said. "But then there is a Tufts average, too, and those who are above and those who are below this higher standard. Should that be stressed or played down?"
One remedy to grade inflation, under review by the Honors Committee, could be a slight adjustment to the numerical cut-off for cum laude so that only the cream of the Tufts crop obtain that GPA. Another alternative would require research by students who are seeking the summa distinction. The psychology and biology departments have already instituted this requirement.
According to the National Association of Scholars, there are a number of ways a university can limit grade inflation. Executive director of the association, Bradford Wilson, recommends that universities tighten their curricula so it is more difficult for students to choose what he calls "academically inferior courses and programs." In addition, Wilson advises colleges to limit the number of students who receive academic honors to the top ten percent of the class.
Whatever road Tufts chooses, the question remains: Will Tufts follow in Harvard's footsteps and earn a similar reputation for inflated GPA's? Inouye admits that Tufts shares some of Harvard's problem, but he says Tufts does not share Harvard's reputation for giving students undeserved A's.
While students wait to see what the administration will present as a potential solution for what some call problematic grade inflation, they can be assured that Tufts does not hold grades alone as its highest measure of achievement. "The point of college isn't to study your rear off to worry about getting good grades," sophomore Jonathan Parker said.
Inouye, for his part, encourages students to lead full lives, both here at Tufts and in the world beyond. "Good grades from a good school will help you get a job or into an excellent graduate program," he said. "But, in the end, a screaming GPA won't guarantee that you'll prosper unless you've really learned to have a life as well."
"You're here to prepare for a life," Inouye said. "You can have a career and not have a life. But if you have an abundant life, then the career will usually follow because you've made success a habit."
