And, Walter Russel Mead of The American Interest offers a nice summary:
"43 percent of all grades given in American colleges are A's. Social science grades are higher than grades in science and math. Humanities grades are higher still. Grades in private colleges are higher than grades at public universities. Northern schools give A's more freely than southern ones, and prestigious colleges have flabbier standards than their less fashionable rivals."
That's a very disturbing chart. Even if the course materials are just as hard as before, which I doubt, as a student you can't know whether you actually comprehend them as well as you need to. By extension, employers can no longer rely on a degree as a token of acquired knowledge or work ethic.
I once read an article by person who primarily interviewed "C" grade students for positions.
His philosophy was that students that where talented often cruised along and didn't try to hard, the ones that struggled often put in more work and got "A" because of it, but the "A" wasn't a reflection of talent. Just a reflection of an ability to pass a test.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-of-...
And, Walter Russel Mead of The American Interest offers a nice summary: "43 percent of all grades given in American colleges are A's. Social science grades are higher than grades in science and math. Humanities grades are higher still. Grades in private colleges are higher than grades at public universities. Northern schools give A's more freely than southern ones, and prestigious colleges have flabbier standards than their less fashionable rivals."