Grade Inflation Hits SKY Colleges
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Korean universities are handing out a greater number of high grades to their students. The trend suggests that gaining admission to a school is increasingly guaranteeing a degree for many college students here.
According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Wednesday, nearly 36 percent of graduates last year gained an A-level grade point average (GPA) and some 56 percent received one in the B range, while only 0.1 percent flunked. Last year, some 292,000 students received bachelors' degrees.
Regarding current collegians, some 40 percent of them gained an A-level GPA while 36 percent fell within the B range. The ministry collected the data from 190 four-year colleges across the nation and posted the average academic scores of students at www.academyinfo.go.kr.
Prestigious universities including Seoul National University (SNU), Korea University and Yonsei University are not exempt from the "grade inflation" trend. The average grade for SNU graduates was 78 on a scale of 100. In case of Korea and Yonsei universities, the figures marked 79 and 76, respectively.
As for current students of the schools, nearly 50 percent of SNU students were earning an A average, while Korea and Yonsei saw 40 percent and 42 percent of their students doing the same.
By subject, 42 percent students taking mandatory courses were earning As in them, while 36 percent of students enrolled in liberal arts courses and 66 percent in teacher training courses were getting the highest grade.
By department, education majors topped the list of graduates with A averages at 55 percent. Medical students came next at 39 percent followed by liberal arts majors at 38 percent, social studies majors at 37 percent, and natural science majors at 34 percent.
Education experts say grade inflation could hamper the quality of university-level education. Some others say that this trend is in line with a growing number of "CEO-style" university presidents who put the first priority on satisfying their students.
"Universities need to train and evaluate students better so that companies and overseas schools trust the degrees awarded to graduates," a ministry official said.
Students who gave up overseas studies and enrolled in domestic universities also say it is much easier to get academic credit here. This is one of the main reasons for the increasing number of Korean students who are returning home to study.
During an audit session by the National Assembly last year, some lawmakers pointed out that universities and colleges are too generous in giving good grades to help students land jobs.
They also voiced the concern that academic records cannot be considered as objective data for job recruiters.
Amid these problems, some universities are moving to change their grading system but some have faced opposition from students. Last February, Yonsei announced that it would adopt a relative grading system for its seniors.
However, the school's student association resisted the plan, claiming that the school should first collect opinions from the student body. After receiving the complaints, the school revoked the plan.