ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Grade inflation

Hi there! Do you know what grades are? They are the numbers or letters that you get from your teacher based on how well you do in school. Sometimes, if you do really well, you might get an A or a 100%. But have you heard of something called grade inflation?

Grade inflation is when it becomes easier and easier to get good grades, even if you're not doing as well as you should be. It’s like your parents giving you a gold star for coloring outside the lines instead of coloring inside them.

When people talk about grade inflation, they're often talking about college or university. Let’s say a long time ago, getting an A in college was really hard, you had to work really hard, do your assignments on time, and get good test scores. But now, the college wants more people to pass and to have good grades, so they might make the tests a little easier, or give extra credit for things that don't really count, which makes it easier to get an A in the class.

This doesn't mean that the students are getting smarter or better at the subject, but it does mean that more people are getting good grades than before. It’s like if everyone in your class got a gold star just for showing up, without really doing anything!

Grade inflation can be a problem because when everyone starts getting good grades without doing much work, it’s harder to tell who is actually working hard and who is not. Employers or graduate schools who are looking at your grades might think you did better than you really did if they don't know about grade inflation.

So, in short grade inflation is like the adults giving you a gold star for something small which is not worthy enough. It could be a problem sometimes especially when it becomes difficult to differentiate between the students who have worked hard and those who did not.