By Christopher Seifert
Grade inflation is real - even at BYU - but making sense of the growing academic performance numbers is not an easy task.
For Fall Semester 2002, the average GPA for BYU students across all colleges was 3.39. Twelve years ago, during the Fall Semester of 1990, the average GPA was 3.04.
Lee Perry, an associate dean of the Marriott School of Business, acknowledged the gradual rise in GPAs at BYU but noted there may be a good reason for the increase.
'We (professors) need to be a little more careful,' Perry said. 'They (GPAs) seem to be moving up, but I think some degree of ''grade inflation'' is appropriate given the quality of the students.'
As applicants to BYU become more academically competitive, the performance - and thus GPAs - of students at the university can be expected to improve as well, he said.
While GPA increases can be attributed to higher caliber students in the long run, college admission test scores over the last decade don''t necessarily indicate a dramatic rise in student quality. The average ACT score of new freshmen in Fall of 1990 was 25.3. In Fall of 2000, the average score was only slightly higher - 26.2.
Perry, who likes to maintain the average grade in his classes around a 3.0, said he''s comfortable with the university''s average. Virtually everyone at BYU is an A-quality student, he said.
'We should always keep our grades a little lower than the quality of students.'
Perry said he does encourage professors in his college to make their grading policies more stringent.
'I try to pique their conscience from time to time,' he said.
The university sets no guidelines for mean GPAs, said Rulon Pope, an associate dean of the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences. Instead, the university leaves it up to individual departments and professors to decide how grading will be handled.
Pope, who teaches economics, said he uses a curve in his classes, but the specifics of that curve vary from class to class.
While many professors use some form of a curved grading system, not all agree such a system is the best way to measure performance.
'The debate rages all the time over whether it''s criteria-based policy or grading on a curve,' Pope said.
Criteria-based grading sets aside certain requirements for a particular course. If a student completes all the requirements, he or she is assured an A in the course. In effect, each student in the class could earn an A if he or she completes the same requirements.
Without a consensus as to which grading style to use - criteria-based or the curve - it becomes virtually impossible to compare grades from department to department or even class to class.
'I couldn''t care less,' said Richard Frost, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, about the topic of varying grading styles. 'In the same way I don''t think there''s an ideal teaching style, I don''t think there''s an ideal grading style.'
Frost grades his own classes on a curve. For him, he said the ideal scoring system for a test would place the high score at 100 percent, the low score at 0 percent and the average score at 50 percent.
The expected average grade in sophomore classes in his department ranges from a C+ to a B-, he said, while the average grade in senior classes ranges from a B to a B+. However, individual professors are not required to abide by those standards, he said.
Frost added, 'I don''t go down the hall and check on everybody''s grades.'
Earl Woolley, dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, said he prefers to use the term 'grade disparity' instead of 'grade inflation.' Colleges and departments need to recognize grade inconsistency in their individual classes and talk about it, he said.
'If it''s not talked about, inconsistencies will not be addressed,' he said.
Woolley said, as a basic rule of thumb, departments should expect students'' performance to improve over time in the program. He encourages the departments in his college to exercise 'sanity checks' on grades.
'Grading can be like an ice skating competition where people assign numbers,' he said. 'This can be like the Olympics last year when judges assigned numbers. Grading can be somewhat arbitrary, but it should be consistent within a department or program.'
Excluding the Division of Continuing Education, the College of Health and Human Performance had the lowest average GPA during Fall 2002: 3.32. The School of Management had the highest with an average of 3.55.
Perry said older faculty members tend to assign lower grades than newer faculty members.
'They''re (older faculty) just used to an expectation of lower grades, and it''s tough to migrate up,' he said.
The most important thing, he said, is professors must ultimately feel comfortable with the grades they assign.
Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News and World Report, helps compile that publication''s yearly ranking of U.S. universities. On the 2003 list, BYU ranks as a second tier school among major universities offering a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral coursework.
Morse said the rankings do not use GPAs directly. Instead, an institution''s academic difficulty is rated by surveys of faculty from peer institutions.
'It would be impossible to compute GPAs across the board in any meaningful way,' Morse said.
In the end, Woolley said, grades aren''t necessarily that important to the learning experience.
'I don''t know what grades mean anyway,' he said. 'What do they mean? What you walk away with is what''s in your mind and what''s in your heart.'
Average GPAs Over Time
Fall 1965: 2.54
Fall 1970: 2.75
Fall 1975: 2.80
Fall 1980: Not available
Fall 1985: Not available
Fall 1990: 3.03
Fall 1995: 3.30
Fall 2002: 3.39
Average GPAs by College for Fall 2002
College of Biology and Agriculture: 3.42
Division of Continuing Education: 2.98
College of Education: 3.48
College of Engineering and Technology: 3.34
College of Family, Home and Social Sciences: 3.33
College of Fine Arts and Communications: 3.37
College of Health and Human Performance: 3.33
College of Humanities: 3.40
Kennedy International Center: 3.36
College of Nursing: 3.52
College of Physical and Math Science: 3.39
School of Management: 3.55