The gentleman's A- ?

Grades at Princeton are too high. According to a recent report by Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel, the median grade point average for the Class of 2002 was 3.46, or midway between an A- and a B+. That means half of all graduating seniors had a cumulative GPA in the A-range.

With so many students clustered near the top of the scale, it's often hard for an individual student to truly gauge the quality of his or her work. When many — in some fields, most — grades given out are As, there is little need to push oneself. High marks all around make things easy for students, who no longer need to stand out among their peers, and for professors, who are saved the task of making measured distinctions when giving grades.

Agreeing that we have a problem is much easier than deciding what to do next. Grade inflation is a national problem, and if Princeton's administration tackles it alone students here will be at a disadvantage when compared to those elsewhere. Likewise, individual professors should not take matters into their own hands: If some lead where others do not follow, individual students suffer simply for picking the wrong courses or departments.

More importantly, there is a risk of overcompensating. Many students at Princeton do excellent work. As more students apply to Princeton every year, the admissions office can pick an increasingly talented class. It's not necessarily illegitimate that grades have increased during the last few decades; it's the degree of the increase that is problematic. — The Daily Princetonian Opinion Board