Long nights in the library studying is usually how Auburn students make As, and a recent study shows those nights are longer at Auburn than most other universities in the South.
Stuart Rojstaczer is a former Duke professor who founded gradeinflation.com, a website that shows trends in grade inflation.
Grade inflation is the gradual increase of grades given over time for the same quality of work, resulting in students getting higher grades for lesser work.
A number of institutional problems are associated with grade inflation, including inequities between students at different universities and difficulty in identifying the students that should stand out.
Nationally, grade inflation has become a problem at universities, with the average national GPA rising to 3.11 from 2.93 from 1991 to 2006, according to Rojstaczer's numbers.
"Auburn doesn't seem to be having as large a problem as other institutions," said Mary Ellen Mazey, associate provost for academic affairs.
On his website, Rojstaczer compiled a list of the four toughest grading universities in four separate regions: East, South, Midwest and West.
In the South region, Auburn ranks fourth, behind Virginia Commonwealth University, Hampden-Sydney College and Roanoke College, respectively.
In his study after introducing Auburn as No. 4, Rojstaczer said, "Eat your hearts out Bama: Auburn is just a tougher place to earn an A."
According to Rojstaczer's work, GPAs nationally have increased each decade of the last 50 years.
"I have data on average GPAs for over 200 schools across the country," Rojstaczer said. "Given its level of selectivity, Auburn grades tougher than national averages."
He credits this tougher grading to Auburn being a public school in the South and its engineering program.
"All of those three factors tend to add up to harsher grading," Rojstaczer said. "But even taking those factors into account, average GPAs at Auburn are lower than national averages."
While lower GPAs sound like bad news, lower average GPA does not mean students aren't learning enough, according to Mazey.
An institution's academic quality can't be judged by average GPAs, according to Mazey, but by learning outcomes and achieving learning goals.
"I don't know if Auburn's academics are more or less difficult, I don't have the kind of information that would allow me to make such an assessment," Rojstaczer said. "I can only say that, on average, Auburn grades more honestly than most colleges and universities."
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