By Chung Ah-young
Seoul National University (SNU) said Sunday that it will cut the proportion of honor levels to degrees awarded to graduates.
The university said that the number of students given summa cum laude, the highest honor will be limited to 10 percent of the graduating class, while those given magna cum laude degrees, the second highest honor, will be reduced to 30 percent. The new rule will apply to all students who graduate in February next year.
Previously, SNU awarded summa cum laude degrees to those who averaged 3.9 points or higher out of 4.3 points and magna cum laude degrees to those who received 3.6 points.
As a result, the percentage of those who get the honor has been on the rise from 34 percent of total graduates in 2011 to 45 percent this year.
The number of summa cum laude graduates reached 363 out of 2,541 graduates this year, while 780 graduates were granted the second highest honor.
The grade inflation of SNU is more prevalent than other universities. According to data submitted to the national Assembly last year, students who earned an A or 4 points represent 51.8 percent of classes in their majors in 2013.
Grade inflation is a result of a lenient grading policy which gives discretion to professors and allows students to easily withdraw from classes.
“The concerns have been growing that students tend to take the classes given by professors who give higher grades, which leads to a distortion of undergraduate education,” an SNU official said.
“We will discuss ways to improve the make-up of courses as well as the restriction of the number of honors graduates,” the official added.