(source: princeton.edu)

The proportion of “A” grades received by undergraduates finally dipped under 40 percent last year, the Faculty Committee on Grading reported happily today. A smashing success! Welcome back to school!

“A” grades made up only 39.7 percent of undergraduate grades given in the 2008-09 academic year, down more than eight percent from 2002-03, before the grade deflation policy took effect.

The report also revealed that the humanities and engineering departments are “slower to make progress,” with proportionally more “A” grades than the social sciences and natural science departments.

Princeton was the first college to make a formal effort to curb grade inflation, Newsweek reported in 2004, when faculty first voted on a policy that aimed to reduce the proportion of “A” grades given to undergraduates to under 35 percent. Similar institutions like Harvard and Yale have also faced problems with grade inflation –a 2008 Boston Globe column called Harvard the poster campus for grade inflation–but have not implemented formal grade deflation policies.

A common complaint is that grade deflation policy may cost Princeton students job interviews or admission to grad school –a concern that may be justified, according to a Daily Princetonian article that quoted admissions directors who had only a general knowledge or no knowledge of the policy.

In other news, there was a faculty cocktail party in front of Nassau Hall this afternoon.