The Middlebury Campus recently reported on the Middlebury Economics department’s new department-wide policy instituting a 95% threshold for receiving an A grade. Previous to this development, grades were up to the professor’s discretion, and there was little standardization across the department.
I appreciate the concern over grade inflation, as it is a problem that supersedes the borders of Middlebury and pervades many higher education institutions across the nation. According to Jane Nam in BestColleges, the median college GPA increased by 21.5% over 30 years. Grade inflation is an issue, limiting the potential for meaningful academic achievement. However, this new policy is taking the wrong approach to an important issue.
In a utopian world of higher education, grades would not matter. Students would pursue academic excellence for the intrinsic worth of knowledge and scholastic exploration. However, this is a utopia, and although it conveys an idealistic sentiment, it is often not indicative of reality. At the end of the day, as much as we hate to admit, grades are important. Whether a student is applying to graduate school or entering a rigorous finance recruitment process, GPA is a crucial indicator and screening tool for both admissions and employers.
This policy change has the potential to hurt Economics students entering the job market. People reviewing a student’s resume will not know that the student's grades are deflated, putting them at a disadvantage compared to peers at institutions where grade inflation still exists.
Although there is merit in this policy change, it is limited and undermined by its scope. If Middlebury wants to fight grade inflation, it needs to take a more comprehensive approach. Harvard, for example, has proposed to limit the letter grade A to 20% of the grades in a course, with the discretion of four additional A’s. This would impact every course, not just a select few. A campus-wide change, rather than targeting a specific demographic, is the only way to enact effective change that does not penalize certain students. Middlebury needs to become an institution nationally recognized for its deflation efforts in order to reap the benefits of revitalizing an A-grade merit while simultaneously not putting its students at a disadvantage.
Gabriella Gerig '27 (she/her) is the Editorial Board Director.
Gabi previously served as an Opinions Editor. She is double majoring in political science and economics. Outside of The Campus, she is a member of the track & field team at Middlebury and is interested in law and government.
