# Why Top Colleges’ Professors Are Giving Up and Just Giving Everybody an A ![rw-book-cover](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/ca_yale_university_0.jpg?w=1280) ## Metadata - Author:: [[Liberty Vittert, Opinion Contributor]] - Full Title:: Why Top Colleges’ Professors Are Giving Up and Just Giving Everybody an A - Category: #articles - URL: https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4350265-why-top-colleges-professors-are-giving-up-and-just-giving-everybody-an-a/?email=39b2e4b60d304c3269c22d31bb0d9388ea129d18&emaila=20157e7f05d729ddd4a6df5f604c5f3a&emailb=edbbca36fa3d04ea293bb3cea72f927bf770fe4e4b104a12682c292664205024&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=121223%20opinion ## Highlights > Professors hand out A’s right and left. This is not because it gives their students a leg up in the job market or because our bosses at big universities require it, but because it is just so much safer. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3mcsysy6djrwschatwkjp)) > When you give out a bad grade, you get the incessant emails and whining about why Joey’s grade should have been higher. But that’s just the beginning, not the end of Joey’s B. Joey’s parents then demand long explanations for his B, other than simply Joey’s failure to put on an A-level performance. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3mgskewmw3p1mdd9xymq2)) > Next come the accusations. “You’re racist.” “You’re homophobic.” Once a parent accused me of antisemitism, only to back down and accept the lower grade after I pointed out that I’m Jewish ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3ms9rpr0ygwrtje6svfw2)) > Just pick your poison, and this new generation of students will accuse you of it. Worst of all, the administrators at these universities are so afraid of their own student body that they will throw the professors to the wolves — that is, straight to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) dean — if there is so much as a whiff of an accusation. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3nk26fc9sff0arw7v5ett)) > Being a tough or even a fair grader just isn’t worth the hassle or risk anymore, ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3nvtg8ka84exsztwc0198)) > Grade inflation has been in the discussion at America’s top colleges for a long time, but even seasoned veterans were shocked by a recent study showing that [nearly 80 percent](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/nyregion/yale-grade-inflation.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) of all the grades given to undergraduates at Yale University last year were in the A range. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3qbzcdx6frm2tekd14201)) > The average undergraduate GPA (grade point average) at Yale has increased from 3.42 to 3.7 in the last 20 years. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3rdkve0k9g01gxywxbsjn)) > Over the last decade, Harvard has gone from giving out about [60 percent](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/nyregion/yale-grade-inflation.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) A’s to nearly matching Yale’s 80 percent. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3s0yjsxfs8kw4af5r701g)) > The kids are the ones hurt most. America’s companies expect graduates with near-4.0 GPAs to be hard workers who can meet deadlines and are generally competent. But that just isn’t a sure bet anymore. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhj3vgxsjw5jjs952ew26rpm))