Grade Inflation Confirmed
Dorothy I. Mitstifer
The Association of College
Honor Societies (ACHS) was formed in 1925 to encourage all general and
specialized honor societies to join forces for the establishment and
maintenance of desirable standards and useful functions in higher education.
Eighty-five years later it is continuing this mission through its certification
process. The minimum eligibility standard was set as a percentile rank: not
lower than the upper 35 percent for specialized and leadership honor societies
and not less than the upper 20 percent for general honor societies.
ACHS
was concerned from the beginning about comparable standards among universities,
and therefore the association adopted the percentile ranking system for the
membership classifications. In recent years internal higher education
representatives and the media have brought attention to the matter of grade
inflation and its implications for quality. Using percentile rank or GPA is an
old and thorny issue. Many non-ACHS member honor societies adopted a GPA
standard; in most cases it is 3.0 for all classifications of organizations.
It was assumed that grade
inflation had increased over time, but there was little research to show the
impact on honor society eligibility standards. In 1997 one ACHS member honor
society, interested in gauging what was happening in the eligibility process,
began tracking lowest grade point averages for the minimum standard of the
upper 35 percent classification for specialized honor societies. With 10 years
of statistics in this case, grade inflation is confirmed (Table 1)—a 2010 3.0
GPA is not a 1990 3.0.
There are of course
limitations to the conclusion that grade inflation is confirmed. This is one
research study, but it does give credence to the original decision of the
founders to use percentile rank instead of GPA to recognize scholarship. We
suggest, and still believe, that percentile ranking provides a more accurate
and dependable look at who merits honor society membership. Therefore, ACHS has
the following as our part of the admission criteria: in general honor
societies, candidates are selected from the junior and senior classes (or their
equivalent semester hours) across the university. In specialized honor
societies, candidates are selected from the second semester sophomore, junior,
and senior classes (or their equivalent semester hours) in the specialization
itself.
We invite you to examine the
ACHS standards for membership and join us in providing leadership and a unified
voice for excellence in scholarly achievement and the core values of honor,
integrity, character, and leadership.
Table 1. Lowest
Undergraduate Grade Point Average for Upper Thirty-five Percentile Rank
Year
|
% LGPA=3.0 |
% LGPA=3.25 |
% LGPA=3.5 |
% LGPA=3.75 |
% Used Equivalents |
% No Response |
|
2006-2007 |
12 |
30 |
43 |
13 |
2 |
0 |
|
2005-2006 |
12 |
31 |
43 |
12 |
2 |
0 |
|
2004-2005 |
13 |
34 |
37 |
9 |
2 |
4 |
|
2003-2004 |
14 |
37 |
30 |
10 |
1 |
8 |
|
2002-2003 |
14 |
35 |
37 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
|
2001-2002 |
18 |
46 |
36 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2000-2001 |
17 |
35 |
37 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
1999-2000 |
18 |
34 |
37 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
|
1998-1999 |
45 |
5 |
21 |
4 |
0 |
25 |
|
1997-1998 |
85 |
8 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Average |
24.8 |
29.5 |
32.8 |
5.4 |
1.75 |
|
Association of College Honor Societies, 4990 Northwind Drive,
Suite 140, East Lansing, MI 48823-5031
Telephone: 517.351.8335 ·
e-mail: dmitstifer@achsnatl.org