An assessment of grade inflation in higher education

Considerable research has been conducted on grade inflation and its pervasi veness. Given the significance of grade inflation on the quality of the edu cational experience and the reputations of colleges and universities, effor ts to assess its presence and underlying causes should be supported and sol utions developed. Because periodic changes in average grades in thr short t erm may be anomalous, mean grade point averages (GPAs) for 262 undergraduat e courses at a Liberal Arts college were examined for trends across a 10-yr , period. Analysis showed higher grades appeared within two of the colleges ' four academic units, although the reasons remained unclear. Tentative exp lanations are explored.