University of Southern California Gould School of Law dean Robert Rasmussen
Image: Lee Salem
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Univ. of Southern California's law school may modify the grading curve
December 3, 2008
The University of Southern California Gould School of Law is the latest to consider grade reforms, but don't expect a sea change in Los Angeles.
USC Law Dean Robert Rasmussen has proposed modifying the school's grading curve — a more modest change than switching from letter grades to a pass/fail system, as several top law schools have done in recent months.
School officials explained in a letter to students on Monday that the change is intended to bring USC's law school more in line with grades at other law schools.
"Our first-year grades and first-year GPAs appear to be lower than those at our peer schools which likely harms some of our students' job prospects," the letter said.
Rasmussen wants to up the average grade from 3.2 to 3.3. That 0.1 increase would effectively move the curve from a B to a B-plus average. As at most other law schools, grades at USC are distributed on a curve. Students receive a numerical grade, ranging from 1.9 to 4.4. Each number has a corresponding letter grade.
The new curve would initially apply only to current first-year students, and would follow them through their second and third years. Eventually, it would apply to all students.
Should the school adopt the proposed change, the average USC law student will graduate with a GPA that is 0.1 higher — or about half a grade higher.
USC law faculty and student representatives are slated to vote on the proposal on Dec. 11, and Rasmussen said that student response thus far generally has been positive.
"Students have been, by and large, supportive of the change," he said.
Rasmussen said the school analyzed data to determine that USC's grading curve was unusually low. USC law students have Law School Admissions Test scores that are comparable to those of students at Vanderbilt University Law School and in-state rival University of California at Los Angeles School of Law. However, the average GPAs of students at Vanderbilt and UCLA are higher than at USC, Rasmussen said.
"It's seems pretty clear that they are giving out higher grades than we are," he said. "This is just a small change to bring us in line with our peers."
Rasmussen bristled at the notion that upping the curve is essentially a grade freebie for students. He pointed out that LSAT scores have been rising for USC law students, but grades have been stuck at the same level for years.
Grades are serious business for law students jockeying for a limited number of associate positions at top law firms. With firms laying off attorneys and downsizing their 2009 summer associate classes, competition for spots was particularly stiff this fall. Rasmussen said USC would be considering changing its grading curve regardless of the rough legal market, though the change will make it easier to compare USC grades to those at other schools, he said.
Grade reform has been a hot topic at law schools of late. Harvard Law School announced in September that it would switch from a traditional letter-grade system to a modified pass/fail grading system similar to the one long used at Yale Law School. Stanford Law School announced a similar change in May.
Columbia Law School and New York University School of Law are among the list of schools reviewing their grading systems.
Rasmussen said that modifying the grading curve is the only change being considered at USC, and the school is not considering a switch to a pass/fail system.
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