Dear Doctor
"Grade inflation means giving students the same grades for work that is less rigorous. There can be many reasons for this, such as providing an easier grading system, a decrease in standards, or a desire to keep students from failing a course. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: students may think they’ve mastered material when they really haven’t, and the value of their high school diplomas becomes less meaningful.
Grade inflation can give students a false sense of accomplishment, leading them to think they’ve mastered material when they really haven’t. One of our XQ Learner Outcomes is learners for life: students who are self-directed and curious, who set goals, and respond to failure with creativity and resilience. This attitude towards learning prepares students for the rigors of college, and for a job market which increasingly requires workers to adapt and learn new skills. Grade inflation keeps students from seeing where they’re falling short, taking ownership of their learning, and making a plan to improve.
The real costs of grade inflation for students are clear in the number of students enrolling in remedial courses once they get to college. Graduating high school with good grades should be a good indicator of college preparedness. Yet a report from the Education Trust shows that transcripts are not a good predictor of college success. Many students earn high grades in high school only to enroll in remedial courses. These courses are expensive and generally don’t count toward a student’s degree. Studies have also shown that enrolling in remedial courses increases the time it takes students to earn their degree and decreases their likelihood of degree completion."
Given a labor market where firms (employers) rely on job applicants ' college transcripts and performance to allocate them to jobs, universities can choose to grade-inflate thatt is give good higher grades to its bad and underperforming students, thus helping them secure better employment opportunities.
(Thus the awarding of higher grades than what students deserve, which yields a higher average grade awarded to students.)
Educational institutions can take the advantage of information assymetry in order to increase their enrollment by grade inflation.