Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Profitable schooling

   If education leads to greater productivity, then insufficient or inefficient education leads to a decline in productivity.
   In a nutshell, this sets up the problem of grade inflation, the granting to students of higher marks than are deserved. However, as with so many issues, there is the corollary issue of whether or not grade inflation exists.
   Critics claim that higher grades are given to students who have not rightfully earned them, and this means a decline in education, just as an inflated currency indicates a drop in the value of a dollar. And just as a dollar no longer buys a full cup of coffee, an inflated or unearned A grade no longer shows the full value of an education. Therefore, the person with the inflated Grade Point Average (GPA) is not as well educated and consequently not as productive as other graduates who enter the workforce.

   Grade inflation is a form of cheating; higher grades that do not adequately reflect performance diminish the value of the grade. If new hires are paid the same as or more than earlier workers, the firm gets a lower return on its investment in the worker (wages paid) because of a drop in productivity.

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