Many people define Ivy League Schools as academic institutions, not businesses. However, the Ivy’s are just as much businesses as they are places of study. In fact, Ivy’s have to make many of the same decisions that businesses make; such as, who to accept (hire), how many funds to allocate to each individual, and how to retain these students (employees).

Recently, the Economist released a story about grade inflation among Ivy ( According to the article, Ivy League schools inflating grades in order to keep their average students happy . Yet by doing this, they are isolating the outstanding students-since everyone’s grade is the same, is anyone a star student? Just like a business would make a decision to either promote or decrease inflation of currency in order to control the market, the Ivy League schools are inflating grades in order to keep their existing students placated with their education.

In conclusion, the ethical standards that are typically applied in University grading are not appearing at Ivy League Universities. this is due to the University, as a business wanting to maintain a smaller, more “successful” ( this is relative due to said grade inflation) student body. however, this is ethically lacking in that it takes away grades as a distinguishing factor amongst its students.

Sources:

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21615616-not-what-it-used-be-grade-expectationsSources: