Grade inflation in higher education has sparked heated debate on X today. Handing out 'A's for minimal effort produces 'experts' who lack the skills to justify their credentials, posing serious risks for society's future. When doctors, lawyers, or teachers are under qualified, the consequences ripple across communities. It's akin to certifying an untrained firefighter as a driver just to meet a diversity quota, only to be shocked when she crashes a costly engine. This isn't just a waste of taxpayer money—it endangers lives. The issue isn't confined to universities; it's creeping into education systems as early as kindergarten.
Staffing top Universities with activists who view their job as to push certain views has done profound harm to the students at those schools.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 30, 2025
The grade inflation and worsening student output are just a byproduct. It will continue to get worse without major faculty changes. https://t.co/Rbo0y28y0s
The competence crisis that we’re eventually going to face because of elite institutional corruption is going to be wild. Covid was just the beginning of it. https://t.co/Cg00RGB5AS
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) August 30, 2025
I spent the early years of my teaching career as a high school Reading Remediation coach. Far too many students should've been held back in third grade due to their reading skills. Time and again, I worked with 15-year-olds who were barely literate. They're being sent into the world unable to read or write with any real competence, set up for a life of poverty and vulnerability. It was heartbreaking to witness. I saw schools handing out standard diplomas to students who spoke little to no English. When an employer glances at their resume, that diploma looks identical to one earned by a student who tackled a rigorous curriculum, while they merely matched pictures because that’s all their ELL plan demanded. It's unfair to students who worked hard and met all the requirements, but it's also unfair to award students degrees and credentials they did not earn. They will be found out in the real world.
50% of the kids in my son's local public school score an A in 10th grade Chemistry. https://t.co/VY69ofwEG3
— Adam Waters (@adamwaters) August 30, 2025
What happens when these students get in a college Chemistry class and they clearly weren't prepared in high school? They'll fail the college class and waste a whole bunch of money. Perhaps a better idea would have been actually grading rigorously when they were in high school.
Um, staffing the vast majority of the education system from kindergarten up is the problem.
— Tim Murphy (@TimMurphy916) August 30, 2025
Exactly. It starts way before college. It's throughout the K-12 educational system as well.
Grade inflation is also a product of 30 years of student evaluations of their professors — colleges have been incapable of maintaining standards when students can push back against them.
— Rubric Marlin (@RubricMarlin) August 30, 2025
This is what happens when everybody MUST attend college or they’re somehow a loser. There’s nothing wrong with a solid vocational track. https://t.co/GwtxQ4LCE9
— Dee (@Deenimal) August 30, 2025
There is nothing wrong at all with a vocational track. For most students they could make much more money and much faster. This is also why school choice is so important. If government schools have to start competing with institutions turning our students with better outcomes, they'll improve or become obsolete.
