While the topic of grading is open to a variety of interpretations and opinions, Fr. Peter Guerin, O.S.B., dean of the college from 1977 to 2002, states the college’s case: “The student is given the grade that the student has earned…Honesty in evaluations of our students is at the heart of our academic standards.”

So why all the discussion about a practice that promotes fairness? Quite simply, Saint Anselm is bucking a trend. While other institutions have been facing blatant grade inflation, Saint Anselm College remains committed to fair grading. The Saint Anselm pledge has been noted by some external marketing groups, and is seen as one of the college’s strengths.

The market research firm Art & Science Group noted in a 2003 report that, “Among college and university characteristics that students said they valued” was a “tough grading policy that rewards good work without grade inflation.”

Despite what seems like strong support for the college’s efforts, can Saint Anselm maintain its well-guarded reputation when students, upon graduation, must compete against others not held to the same standards?

Inflation Generation
Grade inflation can be defined as an increase in the grade point average (GPA) of students over time without an increase in achievement. Most literature confirms the trend began in the 1960s and continues today. Most researchers say it began during the Vietnam War era when giving students failing grades meant potentially sending them off to their deaths.

Grade inflation continued to accelerate. The most frequently stated reasons include the following:

• students less prepared for college work, resulting in lenient grading to encourage further effort and boost self-esteem
• smarter students
• watered down course content
• the opportunity for students to evaluate professors
• pressure to increase retention rates
• adjunct faculty who want to keep their jobs and need a quantity of students to enroll in their courses
  tenure-seeking faculty needing to retain students and receive favorable recommendations from them
• the consumerism of the 1980s.

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