At Harvard, as the grades rise, so do the disagreements
While debate over grade inflation has challenged old habits at campuses across the country, nowhere does pressure for reform loom so large as at media magnet Harvard University. The nation's oldest and most famous university also leads the Ivy League in one not entirely desirable category -- last year Harvard handed out honors degrees with nearly twice the frequency of any of its peers. Nearly half of the grades granted at Harvard last year fell into the A and A- categories -- meanwhile, grades in the C range composed only 4.9 percent of the total. These figures represent marked change over grades given in 1985, which Harvard's dean of undergraduate education Susan Pedersen released in a report on grade inflation sent to faculty late last year.