Is there such a thing as a gentleman's B?

From a blog called  TaxProf Blog

July 15, 2011

43% of College Grades Are A's

Inside Higher Ed, Easy A:

Two critics of grade inflation have published a new analysis finding that the most common grade at four-year colleges and universities is the A (43% of all grades) -- and that Ds and Fs are few and far between. [Where A Is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940–2009, by Stuart Rojstaczer (Duke) & Christopher Healy (Furman).]

Further, by comparing historical data to contemporary figures, the authors charge that there has been an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960 and 12 percentage points since 1988 in the percentage of As awarded in higher education. The study was published Wednesday [and collects] historical data from 200 four-year colleges and universities and contemporary data from 135.

Grade Distribution by Sector and Region

Sector/Region	Average SAT	% As	% Bs	%Cs	% Ds	% Fs
By sector
Private, nonprofit university	1245	48.2	35.8	11.4	2.2	2.3
Private, nonprofit college	1192	47.7	36.6	11.3	2.4	1.9
Public flagship university	1172	42.3	34.5	15.5	4.1	3.6
Public satellite university	1056	41.7	32.0	16.0	4.8	5.4
Public commuter university	1017	39.0	31.8	17.5	5.4	6.3
By region
Midwest	1135	45.0	34.0	14.0	3.7	3.3
Northeast	1153	45.1	35.7	13.0	3.1	3.1
West	1079	44.6	33.0	14.4	3.7	4.2
South	1102	39.7	33.1	16.7	5.1	5.4
Total	1115	43.0	33.8	14.9	4.1	4.2

I knew there was something fishy going on, taken from TaxProf Blog, which got it from Inside Higher Ed, I guess. So then, if the above data are close to the truth, then nearly all get As and Bs. Cs are given to those who piss off the professor, and Ds and Fs are given for God only knows what reasons. And, though I'm not sure it is valid these letter grades have been gradually rising since 1960. And the phenomenon they are measuring here, whatever it is, has been going on all over the country. Perhaps more prevalent at private colleges and universities not surprisingly I might add. I wondered about this when I saw the list of high school students graduating cum laude and higher a month or so ago.

Perhaps the gentlemen and gentlewomen all get As these days.