Princeton Grading Policy Change – Solving for the Winning Solution? And to What Problem?

There is a report in today’s New York Times.  It has links to the announcement by Princeton’s president, and to the faculty committee’s report.

Princeton Is Proposing to End Limit on Giving A’s – NYTimes.com.

The reason I ask if this is solving for the “winning solution” (See below for a definition) is that Princeton probably knew they wanted to return to grade inflation.

Now, for the “to what problem?” part.

Is it a student problem? If so, what is that student problem?

The report on Princeton’s news site notes that  “…[The committee] concluded: ‘The best reasons to change Princeton’s grading policy have more to do with psychological factors and campus atmosphere …’ ”

I question whether reducing stress is a “student problem” or a “student want”.  Of course most professors don’t want students to suffer any unneccessay psychological stress, but some stress and anxiety is almost always associated with learning. I don’t think that a march toward grade inflation is the solution for those students who become too stressed, and grade inflation is a problem for many students who don’t learn as much when an A is easier to achieve.  Grade inflation is the easiest solution for the university and the faculty. though.

Instead of solving a student problem, is Princeton solving a university problem?

Princeton’s news site  states that “…The committee also noted a misperception among potential applicants to Princeton that under the existing policy the number of A-range grades was limited…”

Earlier, the Daily Princetonian  reported that

“…[President Eisgruber] acknowledged that Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye had told him that the grade deflation policy might be affecting the admission yield, since the policy has become part of Princeton’s image for applicants…”

In conclusion, are Riesman and Kerr right about student consumerism and student wants?

(“The winning solution” is a phrase my wife uses to mean that you know what you want to recommend to solve a problem; you just need to find the solution that leads to that recommendation.)