[Letters] Grade inflation in universities

Have you ever wished for an A+ in your university days? Nowadays in Korea, A+ and high grades are a trend. As professors are giving higher grades to students even though they do not deserve it, most students have high grades. For example in Dongguk University, more than 100 students get straight A+s on their report card and an “All A+ Scholarship” has been abolished because of the high frequency of high grades. Why is grade inflation occurring?

First of all, structural problems in the Korean university education system leads to grade inflation. Unlike in other developed countries, graduating from a university here is easier than entering one. For example in the U.S., only 50 percent of the students graduate from college on time. This implies that Korean universities do not make students study hard and it make both students and professors lazy. Therefore, professors do not care deeply about giving out high grades.

Secondly, Korean society’s emphasis on educational background also leads grade inflation. This atmosphere makes students grade-oriented. As the students crave better grades, the professors have no choice but to give good grades to their students.

Finally, the youth unemployment situation in also accelerates grade inflation. As the situation of unemployment is serious, many students try to get a high GPA to help them gain employment after graduation. Consequently, most of the students will have high grades.

Ho Myoung-jin,

a food engineering student at Dongguk University