Lloyd Sponholtz has noticed he has been doling out more A’s than when he started teaching at Kansas University in 1967.

“I’d rather err on the side of generosity than the side of severity,” the associate professor of history said.

Sponholtz isn’t alone. The year he started at KU, the average grade given was a C. In fall 2002, the average was nearly a B.

KU’s bloated grading system is part of a national trend often dubbed “grade inflation.”

In 1958 — the earliest year records are available — the average KU grade-point average was 1.82, below a C, when adjusted from a 3-point scale to the current 4-point scale. The average GPA has gradually increased since then.

But KU faculty members and administrators say they’re not too concerned about the upward trend.

“I don’t think it does any good, but on the other hand I don’t think it’s that detrimental,” said Wayne Osness, who recently retired as a professor of health, sport and exercise sciences.

Lots of theories

KU isn’t alone. Here’s a sampling of other grade-point averages in fall 2002, according to universities and gradeinflation.com, a Web site compiled by Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer:

• Kansas State University — 2.86.

¢ J-W Editorial – Grade inflation (2-7-03)¢ University Daily Kansan – GPAs rising minus effort (2-24-03)¢ Professor wages war on grade inflation (2-08-01)

• University of Missouri — 2.98.
• University of California-Irvine — 2.93.

In the most recent data available in 1992, Stanford University reported an average GPA of 3.44.

No one knows for sure why grades are up, but theories abound.

Jim Carothers, KU’s associate vice provost, said A’s were once reserved for only top work. Now, they’re given for above-average work.

He also noted that KU’s average GPA skyrocketed during the Vietnam War era, from 1.98 in 1967 to 2.91 in 1974.

“Some people say this started during the Vietnam War, when students who were dismissed from school were immediately subject to the draft, so faculty members were sympathetic to that,” he said.

Carothers also said high schools were offering more advanced-level courses in English and math, better preparing students for college.

Carothers said it had become easier for students to drop courses they’re failing. And course selection might be a big part of the trend, he said.

“It’s possible for a student to select and arrange a course schedule to maximize the GPA rather than to learn,” Carothers said.

‘Gentlemanly B’

Sponholtz noted professors no longer adhered to a strict bell curve, which dictates awarding the same number of A’s as F’s, with the bulk of grades as C’s. That has erased the notion of the “gentlemanly C,” as an average grade was once called.

“Sometimes I think we’re almost in the ‘gentlemanly B’ area,” Sponholtz said. “I haven’t had many students complain about their grades, but on a few occasions those who do think they deserve a B instead of a C. Years ago, I think a student with a C would take it.”

Susan Twombly, professor of teaching and leadership, said she didn’t think there was a way to measure whether students were earning better grades over time. But it shouldn’t matter much, she said.

“I don’t see it as an alarming issue, but I haven’t thought about it a lot,” she said. “In the early 20th century, the ‘gentlemanly C’ was the goal, and you didn’t work too hard and enjoyed school. It’s an interesting switch. Now we’re complaining about the other end.”