Germans might fear inflation of the economic variety, but grade inflation has become rampant in the academic world. Pippa Wentzel reports.
When 80 percent of students graduate with one of the top two grades, questions start being asked. When you learn that this figure was 70 percent as recently as 2001, alarm bells start to ring.
A report published last month by the German Council of Science and Humanities into marking practices across the nation's universities has drawn attention to these disquieting trends. It may provide welcome reassurance to anxious German students swotting for examinations, but makes otherwise for uncomfortable reading.
Wolfgang Marquardt, head of the Council which produced the report, did not mince his words in describing the situation to The Local. "The grades which students currently receive say almost nothing meaningful about their real achievement," he said.
The statistics which leap out of the report make it easy to see where Marquardt is coming from. What does it mean to achieve a "very good" or "good" in Art and Art History, when you're joined by 96 percent of all candidates? Likewise for social science, where 89 percent emerge with top grades. Read more...

The first guidebook offering students advice on choosing one of the region’s many universities has been launched by the American University of Sharjah (AUS). There are 107 universities and colleges in the UAE alone but it can be difficult for students to choose between them as only three – UAE University, AUS and Abu Dhabi University – feature on international rankings tables, which feature information on class sizes, research output and student numbers.
AUS, as part of its community service remit, has now produced an online manual offering guidance on selecting the best university. The free e-book does not refer to specific institutions but instead identifies seven key areas students should consider: application deadlines, academic accreditation, recruitment history, fees, curriculum, location and global reputation. Read more...

By Edward Tenner. It may turn out that electronic degree programs designed to make education democratic will actually only work for the elite.
If you've become a true believer in the power of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other "disruptive" web-based programs to break the cost spiral of higher education, you should read the excellent analysis by two writers of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Scott Carlson and Goldie Blumenstyk, "For Whom Is College Being Reinvented?" They're not against MOOCs, certificates, and other alternatives to conventional schools for students with solid secondary backgrounds. But they make the excellent point that these appeal most to the families that need them least and are best able to sort out the high-quality programs from the dubious ones. Read more...