From the Columbia Daily Spectator: Amid a national reckoning with grade inflation, Columbia’s undergraduate schools have been considering changing the way the University weighs A-pluses. It is unclear when these changes would take effect if approved. The Committee on Instruction, which governs the curriculum for Columbia College and the School of General Studies, has considered decreasing the weight of A-pluses for at least the past year, three COI members told Spectator. While the registrar currently weighs A-pluses as a 4.33 in its cumulative grade point average calculation, the COI proposed weighing A-pluses as a 4.0—the same as an A. Under this proposal, individual professors could still award A-pluses, which would continue to appear on students’ transcripts.
The proposal comes as peer institutions consider drastic efforts to curb grade inflation. This fall, a report issued by Harvard University found that over 60 percent of grades awarded to Harvard undergraduates were A’s. Harvard proposed capping the proportion of A’s awarded for each class at 20 percent, though it delayed voting for the proposal until fall 2027...
As we have noted in the past, the problem with grade inflation - unlike price inflation - is that grade inflation is capped. With a cap, everyone ends up with the same grade. Lowering the cap as a "solution" is, quite frankly, a ridiculous idea. But de facto, that's what the proposal above amounts to.
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