A committee concerned with grade inflation at Princeton University recently proposed the abolition of the A+ and released new data revealing a quarter century-long trend of rising grades amongst Princeton's professors.
Princeton's newspaper -- The Daily Princetonian -- reported that the average grade at Princeton has risen steadily from a 3.05 to a 3.34 over the last 25 years, and Nancy Malkiel, chair of the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing at Princeton, is making every possible effort to reduce grade inflation at the University.
The committee's proposals are geared toward raising professors' consciousness of the grades they give with an eye towards a gradual deflation. One recommendation of the report is to change the grade of A+ to "A with Distinction" or A*, keeping the grade-point value at 4.0 but including with it a written evaluation of the student's exceptional performance.
The recommendation, according to Malkiel, stems from the inconsistency with which various academic departments and divisions award the A+. Generally, Princeton faculty teaching science and engineering courses more frequently award the A+ than do their colleagues in the humanities and social sciences.
Faculty and student reactions have run the gamut, with some professor's defending their students and grading policies, and others acknowledging a need for internal reform within the system. The issue, however, is difficult for both faculty and students to address.
"Grading is often thought of by faculty members as a private matter in which their colleagues' influence is not particularly welcome," Daniel Rodgers, acting chair of the History department, told reporters from the Daily Princetonian. "Faculty do not find it easy to talk about the grading patterns in each others' courses."
Princeton students are particularly concerned with their reputation and whether or not all the publicity on this proposal, including a story in the New York Times, will make the University notorious for inflated grades.
While Malkiel continues to say that grade inflation is not a Princeton specific problem, students are nonetheless upset with the implication that they are receiving more credit for their work than they deserve. In an open letter to the New York Times that was published in the Daily Princetonian, a Princeton student made sure to mention that "some students work hard and deserve the high grades they earn."
The committee's "A with Distinction" recommendation closely resembles Dartmouth's citation system. The citations at Dartmouth, however, can be put with any grade -- not only with As. Citations are used to acknowledge superior or particularly impressive work over the course of a term and do not affect GPAs or valedictorian selection. Along with each citation, a few sentences from the professor go on record with the student's transcript.
Other Ivies vary greatly in their policies regarding grades above the simple A. Harvard, for example, gives neither A+s nor A citations, while University of Pennsylvania gives A+s that have no effect on GPA.