The standard for an A has seriously regressed. More and more teachers are accepting late work and allowing students to retake assessments they had originally failed.
According to CBS News, high school graduation rates peaked in 2025, with 3.9 million high school students in the United States receiving a diploma. However, of these 3.9 million, how many graduates were truly prepared for the difficult curriculum of higher education? Grade inflation, when students are awarded higher grades for the same quality of work over time, is the only reason many students have been able to achieve high GPAs.
Grade inflation makes it easier for students to score well in high school classes. However, college professors often have much more rigorous expectations, will establish strict deadlines and won’t accept late work. This will likely be a punch in the gut to incoming college freshmen who previously benefited from grade inflation.
Standardized test scores, such as on the ACT and SAT, have significantly declined. In 2023, ACT data reported only one in five college freshmen would be ready to succeed in introductory level college classes. This data contradicts the four out of five high school seniors that said they felt prepared for college level work, according to Education Week. According to ACT Newsroom, the average unweighted math grade point average in the US has risen from a 3.02 to a 3.32, which is a substantial increase. As grades are higher, test scores are lower, which is the clear-cut definition of grade inflation.
This system of protecting students from failure will not help them in the long run. When a student is met with failure, they should see it as an opportunity to grow rather than avoiding it. Penalties on assignments shouldn’t be seen as punishment toward students; instead, they should be seen as preparation.
Some colleges are also becoming test-optional to allow for more flexibility in the admissions process. This change was implemented to support students who didn’t have access to the tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, without any data to back up a student’s GPA, colleges and universities are left to wonder if students are truly prepared.
According to a study by the University of California at San Diego, some college students still struggle with elementary school math. In the study, students who needed the most help with basic skills had taken higher-level math courses in high school and had maintained a GPA of 3.65 or higher. During the study, the students were tested on basic math problems, such as pre-algebra skills and simple addition, and researchers found most students either could not complete the work or could barely get by.
Although schools should support their students, they should not coddle them every step of the way. Not every class should be an easy A, and having a system that guarantees student success sets students up to face educational challenges in college. Schools shouldn’t try to downplay the fact that some students are significantly behind, and they should accept the fact that they must reform their ways of teaching students to prepare them better for the rigorous aspects of college.
Published and digitized December 2025.
