The Effects of an Anti-Grade Inflation Policy at Wellesley College
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4029336 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristin F Butcher (Marshall I. Goldman Professor of Economics at the Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. .), Patrick J Mcewan (Professor of Economics at the Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.), Akila Weerapana (Associate Professor of Economics at the Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 189-204 |
| Publication date | 2014-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.28.3.189 |
| OpenAlex | W2098273464 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 11 |
Average grades in colleges and universities have risen markedly since the 1960s. Critics express concern that grade inflation erodes incentives for students to learn; gives students, employers, and graduate schools poor information on absolute and relative abilities; and reflects the quid pro quo of grades for better student evaluations of professors. This paper evaluates an anti-grade-inflation policy that capped most course averages at a B+. The cap was biding for high-grading departments (in the humanities and social sciences) and was not binding for low-grading departments (in economics and sciences), facilitating a difference-in-differences analysis. Professors complied with the policy by reducing compression at the top of the grade distribution. It had little effect on receipt of top honors, but affected receipt of magna cum laude. In departments affected by the cap, the policy expanded racial gaps in grades, reduced enrollments and majors, and lowered student ratings of professors
Demographic economics · Economics · Grade inflation · Higher education · Incentive · Mathematics education · Political science · Receipt · Status quo · Engineering · Higher Education Research Studies · Innovations in Educational Methods · Law · Psychology · School Choice and Performance · Accounting
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| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |