Please rate and any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!



The author suggests that the teaching evaluation system has been the cause of grade inflation at Omega University. This grade inflation weakens the students’ credibility in Omega University and worsens their career placement than students from a nearby Alpha University. To solve the problem, the author suggests that Omega University terminate student evaluation of professors. I believe more evidence is needed to assess the validity of the author’s argument.

As the author infers, the evaluation system is the direct cause of grade inflation in Omega University. The logic is as follows: the professors assign students better grades. Students are more prone to write good evaluations for the professors after receiving good grades. However, the author did not present any evidence proving the causal relationship between these two matters. More evidence is needed to confirm the causal connection. For example, do student evaluate their professors before or after they receive grades for their classes? If the students evaluate their professors before they have access to their grades, the claim that professors assign students higher grades for better evaluations is counterintuitive. When students cannot evaluate the professor based on their grades, the professors shall not grade the students better, hoping to obtain a better evaluation in return.

Furthermore, the author points that that grade inflation leads to the potential employer’s suspicions about Omega University’s students’ achievement. When everyone receives a high grade, it is harder for employers to distinguish excellent students from mediocre ones. This argument, however, is based on the assumption that grades are the only predictor the employers use to assess the quality of the students. The potential employer may consider many factors of the student’s profile when making the hiring decision, such as their internship experience and recommendation letters from previous employers or professors. If any of these factors play an essential role in the hiring process, then it is unlikely that the grade inflation alone will suspect the students’ achievements.

Finally, the author states that a nearby Alpha University has been more successful in their students’ career placement than Omega University and argues that grade inflation is the reason for this gap. However, there can be many other factors that lead to the better placement of the Alpha University. For instance, if the rank of Alpha University has improved over the years or the rank of Omega University has dropped, the employer may prefer to hire students from the better-ranked Alpha University. Moreover, suppose the Alpha University has invested more resources in connecting their students with alumni employed by potential employers. In that case, it may also be better for the career placement outcome of their students. Without controlling for these confounding factors, it is difficult to argue that grade inflation is the reason for the career placement difference in Alpha and Omega University.

Although there may be some negative consequences of grade inflation in Omega University, with the given evidence, it is hard to claim that grade inflation causes unsuccessful career placement outcomes. The claim that the evaluation system causes grade inflation also lacks supporting evidence. Therefore, without further investigation, the author’s argument is not convincing enough to persuade Omega University to terminate student evaluation of professors.