Despite years of rumors and periodic media coverage, the topic of grade deflation remains stuck in the realm of Boston University’s odd urban legends. As midterms approach, many students and professors speak openly about university pressure to limit high marks by allotting a fixed number of A’s. Still, the administration stubbornly denies it gives anything other than the grades each student deserves. Both are right — though overwhelming evidence suggests some academic departments limit students’ grades, these administrators have every right to control grade point averages. The problem with this “rumor” is that it does not benefit students unless the administration owns up to its higher standards and uses them to its advantage.

One reason administrators can effectively deny grade deflation is because the concept is so ambiguous: How can professors unfairly slant a student’s grade when instructors are the only ones entitled to rate students in the first place? In fact, the majority of students do not deserve A grades simply for knowing course material or testing well. Professors should dole out a few high marks to the hardest working and most knowledgeable students. A B grade should represent above average performance, while C’s signify genuinely average performance. This way, the coveted top grades mean more to the select students who ace a class because of genuine interest in a concentration or field.

The problem with grade deflation is that the administration sends mixed messages by denying its existence. Despite BU’s reputation for creating qualified graduates through rigorous premedical and prelaw programs, mere rumors do little to calm the anxieties many BU undergraduates feel when they apply for graduate school with average GPAs. Though some schools like Cornell University tacitly admit their demanding standards by posting students’ transcript scores next to their class averages, BU stubbornly insists on keeping a potentially reputation-boosting policy in the shadows of doubt.

As frustrating as it is for students to expect a good grade all semester only to find a lower grade on their transcripts, they actually benefit coming from a school that boosts the value of a BU degree through tough classes. All students could do with a little more transparency from the administration, however. It helps no one to misinform students about what their skills and effort will deliver. Knowledge, after all, is power.