Groceries, gas, and, surprisingly, grades have all been victims of inflation over the past several decades. As teaching methods and policies have adjusted nationwide, an A has lost its value as it is awarded more widely.

Relaxed grading policies during the COVID-19 pandemic have appeared to contribute to this trend even at the collegiate level. Yale University recently released a report detailing grade inflation trends during and post-COVID, possibly revealing that inflation is here to stay.

Since the 2020-21 school year, almost 80 percent of grades given to undergraduates at Yale have been A or A-minuses. The mean grade point average has remained nearly identical, at a 3.7 for the 2022-23 academic year.

Grade inflation causes an “A” to lose its value, making it harder to distinguish exceptional work from average work, devaluing academic achievements.

Does the same problem persist at the University of Iowa?

English Department Chair Loren Glass said while the UI has seen modest grade inflation to match national trends, the problem isn’t particularly prevalent.

Glass said the modest grade inflation he’s seen in the English department could be attributed to the increased emphasis placed on the Creative Writing track, now a complete major of its own, noting that such classes typically “grade a little easier.”

Glass also said the UI’s prestige as the number one public writing program in the country has drawn in higher caliber students.

“What we’ve also noticed is that, since our major is the top in the country and a destination major, the quality of our students has really risen. I think some of the elevation in the grades is from this higher level of preparedness and motivation and talent,” he said.

Glass said the decreased value of an A could also shape students’ perception of their academic evaluations.

“I don’t think A is the new norm, but I do think that C is more scary,” he said. “I do think that the lower grades become more painful and meaningful to students than they probably used to be.”

Glass said some of the policies adopted by staff during the pandemic have had lingering effects. Subjects such as late work and absences have generally become less taboo as long as the students communicate.

Grade inflation can be viewed much more concretely at the high school level.

UI’s associate vice president for enrollment management Brent Gage spoke to the grade trends the admissions office has seen over the years.

He wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that UI incoming first-year students have shown a steady increase in high school GPA throughout the years, ranging from a mean GPA of 3.56 in 2007 to a 3.82 mean in 2022.

He shared that the high school mean GPA hasn’t dipped since 2016, back when the mean was 3.64.

“This issue of grade inflation is a challenge as we strive to be fair and equitable to all applicants through the admission process,” he wrote. “Grade inflation is happening at an alarming rate, but it varies greatly by school district.”

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According to Gage, a factor that has remained consistent are incoming freshmen’s ACT scores. The mean ACT of an incoming UI freshman has hovered around 26 from 2007 to 2022.

While this constant might seem to incentivize the admissions team to put more emphasis on test scores, Gage wrote they still strive to keep GPA evaluation a primary consideration.

“We do have a GPA recalculation mechanism in place to ensure that we are fairly assessing students for merit aid, programmatic admission, and other factors that occur as a function of the admissions process,” Gage wrote.

Tanya Uden-Holman, associate provost for undergraduate education, described how UI currently lacks the data to identify a large-scale problem like grade inflation.

“The University of Iowa is currently compiling transcript data from the past decade as part of a broader analysis focused on improving student retention and timely graduation,” she wrote in an email to the DI. “Once that data is available, we’ll be able to identify any noticeable shifts in average GPAs or grade distribution.”

Uden-Holman noted that while most colleges have experienced grade inflation, an increase in grades doesn’t necessarily indicate lower academic standards. She described how the university places a greater emphasis on student retention, graduation, and career placement rates.

“Our first-year retention rate is at an all-time high, with 90.4 percent of students who started in fall 2023 returning this year,” she wrote. “That’s a 5.4 percent increase over the past five years. Our four-year graduation rate is also at a record high, with 63.6 percent of the class that entered in fall 2020 graduating this past year.”

Uden-Holman wrote that while the UI made grade adjustments such as pass or fail options and greater flexibility with submission timelines during the pandemic to accommodate unique circumstances students my face, most grading policies have returned to their pre-pandemic norms.