The problem, of course, is that no one university or program can take a stand against grade inflation without harming its own students: the first faculty to deflate their grades instantly make their students seem less capable than those from other institutions. This, as Rampell correctly noted, means that the default grade is no longer the “gentleman’s C” of the 1950s, but a “gentleman’s A,” now bestowed more as an entitlement for course completion than as a reward for excellence.
