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Group 9

Dao Duy Dai - 2014520005

Bui Ngan Ha - 2011520017

Phan Hoang Tuong Linh - 2013520012

Do Thi Thanh Tam - 2014520018

Vu Bich Ngoc - 2013520017

Tran Minh Quan - 2012520040

Vu Thi Diem Phuc

Advanced Writing (TAN213E)

20 April 2022

Does COVID-19 Pandemic Worsen Grade Inflation in Higher Education?

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the finding of a novel strain of

Coronavirus (COVID-19)-infected, pneumonia-causing significant illness and death in Wuhan,

China, in December 2019. This epidemic has quickly exploded into an extremely difficult to

measure, control and pose a global threat. COVID-19 can spread vigorously in the air, with

symptoms very close to typical respiratory diseases, so this is a considerable obstacle to the

development of society. Besides the limitations of economic issues, education at all levels is also

affected significantly. Classes at the school must gradually switch to an online form to ensure

safety. In addition, of course, there will be online forms of learning, testing, and scores. For some

students, this is an excellent opportunity for them to earn high scores "easily", but for the

education system, it has an effect called grade inflation. While there have been some factors
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contributing to grade inflation, COVID-19 pandemic could be considered as an important one

making it worsen which can be limited by some solutions.

The practice of lowering academic requirements and awarding students greater grades

than they deserve is known as grade inflation (Berezvai et al.). In the context of higher

education, grade inflation is defined as the sparser distribution of B, C, D, and F grades. To put it

another way, more As are given out, lowering the value of an A (Bar et al.). According to

Malcolm, due to the Vietnam War in 1960, the number of A-range grades issued at American

universities jumped by 28 percentage points. Malcolm's article also claims that while A's were

granted 15 percent of the time in 1960, they are now awarded 43 percent. Furthermore, A's and

B's accounted for 73 percent of all grades given in public schools and 86 percent in private

institutions in the US (Rampell). Taking place in many countries around the world such as the

UK, Germany, and Australia, grade inflation gradually became a worldwide trend (Bachan).

Grade inflation results from various reasons such as grade-dependent scholarship (Hernández-

Julián), and public provision of grades (Bar et al.) which shift students to higher-grading courses.

Rivalry among institutions fosters grade inflation to place students in better jobs, Chan et al,

Tampieri, and De Witte et al. added. The financial strain on students might also result in

numerous inaccurate assessments of their ability. For instance, several institutions in Vietnam

charge hefty tuition costs similar to those in the United States, despite the fact that the average

wage in Vietnam is around 1/9 of that in the United States, motivating more teachers to post

passing grades (Tucker, and Courts). These are only some of the elements that influence grade

inflation. Nowadays, grade inflation raises multiple alarming issues in society. It is claimed that

grade inflation lowers standards, making comparisons between grades and actual knowledge

more difficult (Tucker, and Courts). In academic environments, students become lazier and
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students who receive inflated scores find themselves lacking in more advanced courses. Because

of note inflation and compression, employers cannot rely on grades to help them identify

outstanding students, and as a result, their recruiting procedures lack righteousness. Inflationary

trends in higher education can spread to other educational systems. The higher the universities

grade, the greater the credibility is, which might lead to a higher standard mark on the University

Entrance Exam. According to Tuong, several majors in Hanoi could see their standard grade

improve from 9 to 10. Some researchers, on the other hand, do not believe in grade inflation.

Mostrom and Blumberg contend that rising grades do not always imply inflation, and that the

situation they refer to as grade improvement. Instructors who describe the course criteria,

evaluation lists, and student engagement in the classroom have a higher chance of having

students who will actually study and so receive higher grades. Again, according to Summary and

Weber, note change is not due to inflation but due to productivity improvements, which naturally

increase students’ learning and understanding. However, the analyses conducted showed that

after the effects of these factors were checked, the average increase in grades was roughly half

the unconditional increase (Hernández-Julián), which proves that grade inflation actually exists.

As COVID-19 that entered suddenly in 2020 compelled higher education systems to

transfer to online learning and evaluation (Amzalag), grade inflation has been more alarming.

Several research papers have shown some real data on students' GPAs during the Covid-19

pandemic. Research at the University of Illinois, for example, shows that GPAs have increased

dramatically since the Covid-19 pandemic caused face-to-face learning to shift to online

learning. (see fig.1). The reason for this is believed to be due to the fact that university policy

changes have been made to ensure struggling students are not penalized too severely if they don't

do well in a class due to the pandemic, online learning and all the challenges it brings.
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Fig 1. Average GPA by semester between 2019 and 2020 from Matt Tropher. “COVID-19 Grade

Options Result in Boosted GPAs across University.” The Daily Illini, 4 Feb. 2021,

https://dailyillini.com/covid-10/2021/02/04/covid-19-grade-options-result-in-boosted-gpas-

across-university.

Another example is the data by Qualifications Wales, which indicates that the percentage of A

grades in Wales has sharply increased by approximately 15% since the Covid-19 pandemic took

place in 2020 and 2021 (see fig.2).

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Fig. 2. Top grades at A-levels in Wales from Bethan Lewis. “A-levels 2021 in Wales: Grades

above Pre-Covid Levels.” BBC Wales education correspondent, 10 Aug, 2021,

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-58148512.

Although there has been no real research confirming the direct causes of the covid 19

pandemic to grade inflation in higher education, previous studies have made a few assumptions,

vaguely illustrating the link.

To begin with, teachers are the first driving factors leading to the abnormally high grades

in COVID-19. As the concern for psychology, motivation and life prospects of some instructors,

they admit that nowadays students are under a lot of parental and social pressure to get good

grades. Teachers may find that grade inflation is better than causing serious psychological

damage to students or, in such cases, preventing them from achieving their long-term goals. In

this regard, some educators might view grade inflation as a personal expression of caring for

their students (Finefter-Rosenbluh and Levinson). Especially during COVID-19 pandemic,

teachers can give their students better grades to avoid their confusion due to the sudden transition

from offline to online and give parents more peace of mind. Moreover, the risk of job insecurity

also induces educators to boost average scores. According to Faieza Chowdhury, a seven-year

experienced lecturer at Southeast University, “[n]early all academic institutions evaluate the

performance of course instructors through student feedback”. However, the evaluations of

students have been proved to be unmethodically based on emotional elements such as: Easy

taking, easy examination questions, level of interest in discipline, and level of interest in teachers

(Aliasgharpour and Mansooreh). Therefore, in the context of job security and financial rewards,

it is understandable as to why teachers level down questions and give higher grades than what
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students deserve. The situation is even exacerbated in the corona pandemic when institutions are

taking students' feedback more seriously.

Second, abnormally soaring scores may be deliberately marked by the educational systems.

A study of 544 academic institutions found that 77% of these institutions have incorporated some

form of innovation into their rating system to give their students higher marks that have led to

increases in grade point averages (Collins and Nickel). There are two underlying reasons behind

this action: “to enhance the accessibility of education and future job prospects and to maintain a

positive public image” (Faieza Chowdhury). It is a fact that in order to study for a Master's

degree, grades are of the utmost importance. Universities, to maintain its public image as a

prestigious institute, may willingly accept to provide higher academic transcripts. What's more,

academic results are proven to be positively intertwined with the possibilities to get a job after

graduation (Stephen B. Knouse, et al.). In order to boost the employment rates after graduation,

institutions frequently send signals to admissions officers and future employers that their

students are comparably superior by providing proof of high marks. Although the issue of ‘grade

delusion’ has long been acknowledged among recruiters, recently, this criterion reluctantly has to

be placed more priority as COVID-19 deters students from internships and part-time

employment.

Finally, grade inflation can also be caused by students cheating on tests. In fact, online

learning provides a favorable environment to spur cheating. There have been many studies

proving that cheating by students is real. For example, research by Dendir and Maxwell found

evidence of cheating in exams through online proctoring. Students can use external resources,

work in groups with other students because the supervision during the online exam is not tight.

This may lead to increasing student grades in online courses.

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Corona pandemic, after all, is not a direct factor leading to grade inflation. Rather, it only

provides the favorable environment for the issue to augment. Accordingly, even in the event of

post-covid, without any timely measures taken, inflating grades is here to stay. Here are some

basic steps that can be integrated to gradually alleviate the problem. Firstly, institutions should

apply a more comprehensive method to assess students. With regard to the new normal, online

classes may continue to exist. Thus, besides grades in certain exams, schools can take the

progress into account. Groupworks, presentations are also favorable. Whatever methods applied,

educators are responsible for making grading policies clear to students, especially freshmen, so

that they are not misled by ungrounded rumors. Secondly, a more balanced method to evaluate

teachers should be considered. Listening to students' opinions is definitely vital, yet, this

evaluation process should be carried objectively. Instead of questionnaires, regular meetings can

be held with students, to deeply understand each other's situations and give feedback more

subjectively. Lastly, universities can make use of the Quota system, which allows a certain

percentage of students in class to achieve ‘A’. Not only can the competition be boosted, resulting

in higher education quality, but the employers can again resort to grades to filter the real skillful

candidates.

This study examined the phenomenon of grade inflation in higher education during the

COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing the factors that affected it over this period and thereby

proposing solutions to the problem. Data collected indicates that grade inflation in the academic

environment has evolved drastically for a few decades and the situation was exacerbated when

online learning was adopted by most universities. Some factors noted include direct ones, such as

dishonest actions by students in administering online tests, and indirect ones, such as the

leniency of education systems. According to the results of the study, recommendations made to
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administrators and policymakers of higher education institutions could be pointed out to limit

grade inflation. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has a significant impact on the increase in the

number of higher markers, yet the consensus of governments, organizations and individuals will

be the remedy.
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Works Cited

Bachan, Ray. "Grade inflation in UK higher education." Studies in Higher Education, 2017, pp.

1580-1600.

Berezvai, Zombor, et al. "Can Professors Buy Better Evaluation With Lenient Grading? The

Effect Of Grade Inflation On Student Evaluation Of Teaching". Assessment &Amp;

Evaluation In Higher Education, vol 46, no. 5, 2020, pp. 793-808. Informa UK Limited,

https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1821866.

Chan, William, et al. "A Signaling Theory of Grade Inflation". International Economic Review,

vol 48, no. 3, 2007, pp. 1065-1090. Wiley, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-

2354.2007.00454.x.

Collins, Janet R., and Kenneth Neal Nickel. Grading Policies in Higher Education: The Kansas

Study-the National Survey, Wichita State University, vol. 51, no. 2, 1975.

Dendir, Seife, and R. Stockton Maxwell. “Cheating in Online Courses: Evidence from Online

Proctoring.” Computers in Human Behavior Reports, vol. 2, 2020, p. 100033.,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2020.100033.

Finefter-Rosenbluh, Ilana, and Meira Levinson. "What is wrong with grade inflation (if

anything)?." Philosophical Inquiry in Education, 2015, pp. 3-21,

http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1070362ar

Hernández-Julián, Rey. "Merit-Based Scholarships And Student Effort". Education Finance And

Policy, vol 5, no. 1, 2010, pp. 14-35. MIT Press - Journals,

https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.2009.5.1.5102.
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Kebritchi, Mansureh, et al. “Issues and Challenges for Teaching Successful Online Courses in

Higher Education.” Journal of Educational Technology Systems, vol. 46, no. 1, 2017, pp.

4–29., https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239516661713.

Lewis, Bethan. “A-Levels 2021 in Wales: Grades above Pre-Covid Levels.” BBC News, BBC, 10

Aug. 2021, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58148512.

Troher, Matt. “COVID-19 Grade Options Result in Boosted GPAs across University.” The Daily

Illini, 4 Feb. 2021, https://dailyillini.com/covid-10/2021/02/04/covid-19-grade-options-result-in-

boosted-gpas-across-university.

Mostrom, Alison M., and Phyllis Blumberg. "Does Learning-Centered Teaching Promote Grade

Improvement?". Innovative Higher Education, vol 37, no. 5, 2012, pp. 397-405. Springer

Science And Business Media LLC, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-012-9216-1.

Rampell, Catherine. “A History of College Grade Inflation.” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 14 July 2011, https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-

of-college-grade-inflation/.

Stephen B. Knouse, et al. The Relation of College Internships, College Performance, and

Subsequent Job Opportunity. 23 Dec. 2011,

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2161-1920.1999.tb01007.x.

Tampieri, Alessandro. "Grade Inflation, Students’ Social Background And String-Pulling".

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2011. Elsevier BV, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1974496.

Tucker, Jan, and Bari Courts. "Grade Inflation In The College Classroom". Foresight, vol 12, no.

1, 2010, pp. 45-53., https://doi.org/10.1108/14636681011020155.

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Tuong Van. "Four Causes Of Higher College Standards". Vietnamese Labor Newspaper, 2021,

https://laodong.vn/giao-duc/4-nguyen-nhan-khien-diem-chuan-dai-hoc-tang-cao-

954501.ldo.