Editorial: Getting data on deflation

One of the central prongs of this new approach is adopting a data-driven examination of the effects of grade deflation. Diemand-Yauman and Tilghman appear to jointly understand the importance of this idea. The administration has already released data on the effects of grade deflation on Princetonians in the job market and graduate school admissions, but this data largely depends on the state of the economy, which has varied wildly over the last few years. More data is needed to accurately assess the impact of grade deflation in this area, and the Editorial Board is pleased to see Tilghman and the USG exploring the issue together.

But to fully gauge the effects of grade deflation, this investigation should also extend to the policy’s implementation on campus. There are still many unanswered questions about how individual departments are implementing grade deflation, questions that the current data cannot resolve. To measure compliance with the policy, the percentage of A’s is calculated across the entire department’s classes. But the internal messages and directions that department chairs are giving to their faculty have not been made public, which means there is a potential for vast and unknown variation in implementing the policy. It is thus unclear whether some departments might be grading introductory courses more stringently to award more A’s to concentrators in upper-level courses, as is often alleged. We are especially concerned that there is a strong incentive for junior faculty members hoping to receive tenure to enact a strict 35 percent quota on A’s. The USG’s letter — which focused in particular on the issue of professors setting firm caps on the number of A’s that will be awarded in a specific class — highlights this issue.

The USG and Nassau Hall should determine whether these and other potential abuses are occurring, and then report its findings to the student body. Public accountability is the best way to ensure that Princeton’s grading policy is implemented properly.

Though the administration’s support of grade deflation shows no sign of waning, there are clearly many issues regarding its implementation that are of mutual concern to both administrators and the student body. We encourage the USG to continue working collaboratively with the administration to study and mitigate any negative impact of grade deflation on Princetonians, both before and after they graduate.