Plus/minus grading system proposed

Published on October 13, 2009 by Rebecca Hood

A plus/minus grading system to be effective 2010 is being drafted by officials.

The system would change the current value assigned to each letter grade. The value of an A would equate to a 4.0, an A- would earn a 3.7, B+ a 3.3, B a 3.0, B- a 2.7, C+ a 2.3, C a 2.0, C- a 1.7, D a 1.0 and an F would equal a 0.0.

The draft of the proposal states that the new system will reward academic achievement by allowing professors the ability to “more accurately assess and report a student’s performance.”

Proponents of the system say it will encourage higher GPAs and make it fair for students who are currently rewarded equally for grades that can differ up to nine points. Those in opposition argue the system creates an unfair spread on the 4.0 grading scale.

The draft of the plus/minus grading system proposal mentions the use of this system by top schools such as California Institute of Technology, Emory University, Northwestern and University of Michigan. Both The University of Georgia and Georgia State University use plus/minus grading systems for undergraduate and graduate programs.

“It would really hurt people who made a low C,” said senior Jason Reeves. “I think the scale is a good idea, but a 4.0 should start at a 90, that way an 80 would still be a 3.0 average.”

Some students say the system does encourage a higher GPA.

“I like it because this system gives students more of a sense of where they stand and gives them more of a boost to pull up their grades,” said Dennis Murphy, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. “If they have a B+, they’ll strive to get that A.”

Neda Javan, a student at the University of Georgia, said she has mixed feelings about the system.

“I hate it when it comes to the A and B, but when you get a C+ versus a normal C, it is nice,” said Javan.

Javan said she would not recommend the grading system to KSU, because “Hope [scholarship] doesn’t acknowledge the plus minus system, and most graduate schools don’t either, and it just makes getting good grades a little more complicated.”

The drafted proposal at KSU does not mention how the GPA requirement of the Hope Scholarship will be taken into consideration under the new system.

SGA plans to discuss the proposal at its weekly meeting Thursday, Oct. 15 at 3:30 p.m. in University Room B of the Student Center.

Responses to "Plus/minus grading system proposed"

  • cait made a comment on October 13, 2009:

    I have mixed feelings about this.
    When I see an A-, it makes it seems like the student didn’t try fully to make the best grade. Although an A- is the equivalent of a 3.7, which is an excellent GPA, the minus part works against the student, downplaying his or her grade.

    Furthermore, when I go to law school and have made All A’s, say mostly A- my entire undergraduate degree, my GPA will be a 3.7. Say another students makes the equivalent of an A-, but at his or her university it recorded at an A. This student suddenly has a 4.0 GPA.
    Who do you think will get accepted first?

    This grading system is a disadvantage to those who wish to continue to graduate studies.

  • Justin Hayes made a comment on October 13, 2009:

    I think the new system is a great idea, but I do think that an A- should not exist. There would certainly be a reduction in 4.0s as those with a 92 to a 90 would start receiving 3.7 points instead of 4.

    Yes, it encourages students to work harder to get the extra points in their class, but some tenured professors grade on a very arbitrary basis. Some never give over a 90. Should students in classes with those teachers be punished for getting the highest grade that teacher gives?

    Also, is a student who has five classes and gets a 92, 95, 91, 92, and 88 in their classes a B+ student? I would say he or she worked very hard to get those grades. With the new grading system, his or her average for that semester would be 3.68 under the new system vs. 3.8 under the old.

    Yes the new system will help those B students who get high B grades increase their GPA, but it will hurt those students who get low A’s.

    An A should be 90-100, then you can use the +/- system for the rest of the grades.

  • Justin Hayes made a comment on October 13, 2009:

    Another solution would be to reward students who get 97-100s by including an A+. If you’re going to have an A-, you should also have an A+ worth 4.3 points.

  • Garrett made a comment on October 13, 2009:

    I think it’s a bit hard to say we’d be put at any disadvantage or that the system is unfair. UGA is already on the plus/minus system and GT widely grades using a bell curve, causing a rediculous amount of their students to lose Hope.

    I’m sure students at other universities would die for a school that uses a plus/minus system but then turns around and allows their professors to give As and Bs to 80% of their students in some classes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent my college career by barely squeezing by with 90s and 80s, but calling a spade a spade here I can’t exactly complain.

  • Justin Hayes made a comment on October 13, 2009:

    The fact of the matter is, the new grading system would only award B students and punish A students.

    A student who gets 88, 89, 88, 89, and 88 could get a GPA of 3.3 under the new system rather than a GPA of 3.0 under the old. A student who makes a 90, 92, 91, 90, and 92 comes away with a GPA of 3.7 under the new system rather than a 4.0 under the old.

    I would say that the latter student is a much better one than the the former, yet the the former is rewarded while the latter is punished. The new system would only help mediocre students and punish hard working students.

  • cait made a comment on October 14, 2009:

    I agree. Justin you made a very good point.

    I am one of those “A” students who will be disadvantaged by the system. I work very hard to maintain my grades, and get punished for it!

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