When my dad graduated high school in 1983, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that the average American high school student had a grade point average (GPA) of 2.47 on a 4.0 unweighted scale, corresponding to a grade between B- and C+. 40 years later, that same statistic has risen to a 3.1 GPA, which corresponds to just above a B grade. That means the average high school student’s grades in the U.S. have increased by more than 25% over the last 40 years. It’s not just the average student whose grades are rising: high schools have seen an influx of students graduating with a perfect 4.0 unweighted GPA, meaning they didn’t receive a single A-. In 2023, Harvard admissions posted that, for an incoming class of fewer than 2,000 students, nearly 8,000 applicants had a perfect 4.0 GPA. Students everywhere are earning A grades, making the once-coveted A an expectation for high school students.
Before significant grade inflation hit high schools nationwide, students received grades based on the traditional bell curve. In this bell curve grading system, which often represented the grade distribution in an average high school class, a C grade was not, by any means, bad: it represented the average. Most students, labeled “average,” would be clustered in the middle of the class, earning a respectable C grade. Only a few students would receive failing grades, and even fewer would earn an A. Using such a grading curve, only one or two students in a class of twenty would receive an A, reserving the honor for the highest level of work compared to their peers. That distribution of A grades is staggeringly different from the way students are graded today. A 2017 study from Inside Higher Ed reported that in 2016, 47% of high school students in America graduated with grades ranging from A- to A+.
As grades spike, it becomes harder and harder for schools to differentiate students’ academic success. While colleges and universities have transitioned to a more holistic admissions process that factors in test scores, extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation, grades remain a significant factor in determining a student’s admissions outcome. Additionally, academic rankings and awards become increasingly competitive as more students earn high GPAs. For many state schools in America, admission into the honors college or the level of scholarship received is highly, if not solely, dependent on the applicant’s GPA. As average GPAs skyrocket, the difference between receiving a scholarship and not can be the difference between an A and an A-.
This intense grade inflation only increases students’ anxiety, creating a toxic environment where even one grade below an A or A- can feel like a significant issue. In both public and private high schools across the country, students are increasingly worried about earning the highest possible grades and often go out of their way to turn their A- into an A. Additionally, the spiked grades create a false sense of preparedness in high school students and set them up to fail. Many high schoolers have become accustomed to A’s being the norm, which will create unrealistic expectations as they enter college and the job market, where 50% of the population isn’t given the highest grade. Additionally, students assume that an A grade means they are very prepared and going to do well, but if 50% of students are receiving A’s, it can create a false sense of preparedness.
So, how do you fix a system that is inflated nationwide? For a renowned prep school with long-standing connections to elite schools, the fix can be realistic. Schools as described could publish a memo for students, teachers, parents, and collegiate admissions officers outlining a transition to a grading system in which only the top 20% of high school students in each class receive an A. Since these high schools already have strong relationships with colleges and universities, the transition could be more feasible. But for the average public high school in the United States, the transition to a more grade-intensive system is less feasible. These high schools can only make a school-wide grade shift if other schools in their state make the same decisions, which is an unlikely systemic switch. It is also hard for teachers to single-handedly make a change in the system. If they hand out fewer A grades, it is unfair to their students, as students taking the same class with a different teacher will receive better grades.
Grades are inflated to levels never seen before in high schools across the country, creating a new academic environment that grows more competitive every year. With individual teachers or schools unable to make significant changes to this system, it is unlikely that the ever-increasing grade inflation will end anytime soon.