Will Tulane's Grade Reform Give Students An Edge?

After one full year of consideration, the Academic Affairs Committee has decided to change the grading system which was put into place in the late 80's.

The new grading system will affect the required Mean GPA. Before the grade reform, students maintained a curve of about a 3.0. The newly enacted grading regulations state that ''the grades to J.D. students in all courses shall produce a mean GPA of between 3.20 and 3.30.'' There are four exceptions to the new rule: (1) All seminars, (2) All clinic courses, (3) Classes of 12 J.D. students or fewer, and (4) Legal research and Writing.


Brandon Creekbaum, a student representative of the AAC (The Academic Affairs Committee) said, ''It had been the same grading system since 1987. [The AAC likes...] to examine it on a continual basis to make sure we are remaining competitive,'' he said. ''We noticed our curve was slightly less than the average peer schools' curve.''

While Tulane may think they are giving their students the edge they need to survive in the particularly tough job market, some speculators say that a law degree from the law school won't meet such expectations.

In a cynical look at grade reform, Elie Mystal of Above The Law, says that ''all of the schools that are 'reforming' grades need to come up with an actual solution to the terrible job market their students are facing.'' Mystal calls the reform ''grade inflation'' and brings light to the fact that the new grading system will cost them when it comes to scholarships.

Tulane allows 1Ls to maintain scholarships as long as they maintain a 3.0 GPA. Where before, half of each class would fall below a 3.0, there is speculation that the new system may keep more students above a 3.0, thus increasing the scholarship money given out by the school.

In the old system, 65% of the class had to receive a grade of a B-minus or better and a quarter of students had to receive a C-plus or worse, leaving 10 percent to go either way.

Another student representative of the Academic Affairs Committee points out that the new grade reform will help students get jobs with those law firms that have strict grade requirements. Minshull said, ''Sometimes firms need a way to cull the herd, and sometimes that's as simple as saying, ''We're not going to take anyone with a GPA of 3.1 or lower.''