Grade Inflation Throughout the twenty-first century, college should be a top priority for students graduating from high school, but students who take the next step to attend college Universities are facing a problem that is growing rapidly. The problem is the grade inflation that exists in university nursing programs. Dr. Judith Scalan, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate Program, and Dr. Dean Care, Associate Professor and Interim Dean at the University of Manitoba, stated that “Grade inflation can be defined as the a student's grade point average increasing without the student's performance increasing” (2). Grade inflation is a recurring problem for undergraduate nursing majors for many reasons professors teaching in class they do not know the correct methods of grading, part-time professors give higher grades, and professors give good grades because of the relationships they have with their students” (Scalan 476) Other reasons why grade inflation also occurs because clinical practice in nursing programs does not have agreement on nursing-related benchmarks and many nursing schools are competitive, which causes universities to encourage high graduation rates (Scalan 476). In the future, nursing students will be affected by grade inflation because they are not “prepared for the work required once they enter the field” (Faurer and Lopez 19), grade inflation that makes students overconfident in their abilities (Scalan 477) and companies that fail to trust that a nursing student's transcript is credible (Faurer and Lopez 20). Instead of allowing grade inflation to continue, undergraduate nursing programs should create a valid and strong grading rubric, train professors to have t...... middle of paper ......eative Nursing 18.2 ( 2012): 74-77. Network. April 1, 2014.Scanlan, Judith and Care, Principal. “Grade Inflation: Should We Worry?” Journal ofNursing Education 43.10 (2004): 475-478. Network. April 4, 2014.Scanlan, Judith and Care, Dean. “Issues with Grades and Grade Inflation in Nursing Education.” Annual Review of Nursing Education 6.1 (2008): 173-201. Network. April 1, 2014.Speer, Alice, David Solomon, and Ruth-Marie Fincher. “Grade Inflation in Internal Medicine Clerks: Results of a National Survey.” 12.3 (2000): 112-116. Network. April 1, 2014.Sonner, Brenda. “A is for ‘Added’: Examining Grade Inflation in Higher Education.” Journal of Education for Business 76.1 (2000): 5-8.Web. April 11, 2014. Zellner, Kathleen M. “An Examination of Grade Distribution Patterns and Grade Inflation in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program.” ProQuest. UMI Microform, May 2008. Web. 3 April. 2014.