Every college student wants a good grade point average (GPA), right? To help get a higher GPA, does every college student take an easy class every now and then?

I think we know the answer to the last question.

Now it appears universities are try to find ways to discourage this “grade-padding” practice. The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights how two Universities are dealing with the problem.

First, the publication reports on University of North Carolina’s plan to publish class medians on student transcripts. In each class enrolled, a student will be ranked by percentile against their peers.

A new rating system called “Schedule Point Average” will be used. It will determine if a student is taking and easy or hard course to achieve their GPA

The Schedule Point Average will give an idea of how rigorous a student’s schedule is and how that student performed compared with others in the same courses. (Think strength of schedule for academics, not just basketball.)

The goal is to discourage students from taking less rigorous classes in the hope of inflating their academic standing.

Cornell University wants to achieve the same goal but they are moving in a slightly different direction.

Faculty at the university have voted to stop  a 15 year practice of publicly disclosing the median grades for each course.

The system was originally designed as a check against grade inflation, but some scholars at Cornell grew concerned that the policy may have backfired, as students allegedly used the data to shop for easy courses.

Median grades for Cornell Students will still be seen on their transcripts just not available to the public.

Do you think these Universities deserve good grades for their efforts?