What is grade inflation and deflation in universities?
Grade inflation would be where professors are grading higher than the “norm” or than they used to… ie more people getting As and Bs, “inflated” (ie speaks to artificially boosted) grades. Perhaps it’s because professors want to reward students, or motivate them, or not incur the wrath of students and their parents or they want to help them get into graduate schools or make their own schools look good or to make their classes attractive (thus popular/desired) by students (helping their job security), etc. It may not necessarily be conscious. But there’s a definite feeling that colleges are grading “easier” than they used to. Grade deflation would be the opposite, I guess…where professors are grading harder, lower, etc. While it would probably be ideal if everyone graded on a comparable basis, that isn’t likely (or practical). I think there are definite cons to grade inflation but that’s just me.
