Watch Live: Congressional Hearing on IRS Scandal

Live Now on TheBlaze Radio: ‘The Buck Sexton Show’

Education

The Interesting Thing We Found Surrounding Obama’s Grades in College

Nov. 2, 2012 10:06am

This article is a contribution by freelance writer Charles C. Johnson.

–

Few issues arouse so much interest as Barack Obama’s grades. Everyone from Jodi Kantor, columnist for the New York Times, to David Maraniss of the Washington Post to Donald Trump has weighed in on what they are or might be. Despite the interest, however, we still don’t know what they are — Obama has not yet released his academic records from Occidental (1979-1981), Columbia (1981-1983), or Harvard Law School (1988-1991).

Theories abound as to why, but one that has largely been ignored is that maybe they’re hidden because they reveal Barack Obama was entirely average. How so? New research into the Occidental and Columbia archives by TheBlaze shows that Obama transferred from Occidental during a time of rampant grade inflation and entered Columbia during one of the easiest years to transfer in recent memory.

Newspaper accounts from Occidental show grade inflation was rampant for the years 1977-1981, the year that Barack Obama transferred to Columbia. It was so bad that, according to the student newspaper at the time, the dean of faculty had to intervene in the fall of 1981. (Barack Obama transferred in the spring of 1981 as a sophomore, meaning he would have enrolled.)

Grade Inflation Could Explain How Obama Got Into Columbia

A cartoon from the Occidental newspaper at the time mocks the rampant grade inflation at the school.

During that five-year period, “average GPAs ran 3.11, 3.07, 3.01, 3.08 and 3.08, respectively,” wrote Michael Bruce Abelson for The Occidental on February 19, 1982. “A statistical study by Dean of Faculty James England printed in this month’s [February] edition of the Faculty Newsletter, assails the college’s rising grade point average and makes a direct appeal to faculty members to reconsider the basis upon which grades are given.”

To put these high GPAs in perspective, consider that were Occidental College’s entire student population to apply to Columbia College in ’81, half would have had sufficient GPAs to be admitted at the New York Ivy League school.

The only reason that is possible, however, is because Columbia’s transfer student standards during that same period were very low. At Columbia, the quality of the transfer student had declined so much so that the average admitted transfer student’s GPA was a meager 3.0 and the average SAT score an 1100 (out of a possible 1600).

Jeremy Feldman, a student newspaper writer at Columbia, documented the lower standards in a Nov. 18, 1981 and quoted admissions officials: “On paper at least, the quality of the students accepted [as transfers] has declined along with the number of applicants, the officials say.” (Columbia Spectator, “Tight Housing Discourages Transfer Applications to CC)

Feldman, quoting Robert Boatti, Assistant Dean of Admissions, as well as the former college Dean Arnold Collery, continued:

Boatti also attributed the drop in transfer application to the College’s policy of requiring transfer students to take courses in its core curriculum and to the limited availability of financial aid for them.

He added a “majority” of the transfers come here from college in the New York area. Many come from community colleges, rather than the nation’s top schools.

In grades and other indicators of academic performance, the crop of transfer applicants “doesn’t stand out the way they did before,” [Dean Arnold] Collery said.

Boatti confirmed Dean Collery’s observations:

Among accepted transfer students, the average combined math and verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is a 1,100 and their grade-point average at their former schools is about 3.0, Boatti said.

The freshman class at the College had a combined SAT score more than 100 points higher.

Only 450 students applied to transfer to Columbia in 1981 and sixty-seven were admitted, according to the Columbia Spectator, compared to 650 applicants just four years before.

Interestingly, Obama’s GPA may not have mattered to get into Columbia at all.

“GPAs were dropped from student transcripts [at Occidental] during the late 1960s, in an effort to de-emphasis grades and stress learning for its own sake,” wrote Arpie Balekjian in the student newspaper, The Occidental on March 13, 1981.  On March 11, 1981, Occidental’s faculty voted to reestablish GPAs on transcripts, but by then, Obama had already filled out an application to transfer to Columbia and been accepted. Impossible though it may seem, he may very well have been admitted to Columbia without ever having to reveal his grades.

And that may not be far-fetched considering Columbia’s lower standards at the time, which were in part fueled by a housing crunch that forced the college to lower standards in order to attract transfer students.

Barack Obama did not graduate with honors at Columbia and so his acolytes make much of his time at Harvard where he was president of the Harvard Law Review and where he graduated magna cum laude. Many ignore that his magna cum laude honors may well not been magna cum laude today. Under the system in place when Obama was a student,  only one third of a graduating class did not receive honors. For the class of ’95, a whopping 71.3 percent of the student body graduated with honors, doubling the number of students graduating with honors since 1972 and tripling the numbers receiving magna cum laude. Receiving magna cum laude may be impressive, but it is less so, if one in six students win it.

Eventually the Harvard Law faculty voted overwhelmingly to make it harder to get honors, a policy change that cut the number of students graduating with honors in half, according to The Harvard Law Record, a student newspaper of Harvard Law School.  Under the old system, all students had to do was reach a GPA cutoff. Given the stiff competition, professors felt pressure to inflate the grades of their favorite students. Under the new system, only the top ten percent of students received magna cum laude.  (Victoria Kuohung, “Class of ’99 May Find Honors Harder to Earn,” Harvard Law Record, February 16, 1996).

What does this all mean? Ultimately, given the grade inflation of the time at all three institutions Obama attended, the larger story isn’t about Barack Obama’s grades, but his courses and the radical professors who taught them.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Comments (155)

1 2 3 4
  • mlimberg
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 3:02pm

    4 more days and this POS is history… But we need to watch to see how much crap he rams thru while a lame idiot…. I smell a screwing of the American Taxpayer and the trampling of the Constitution….

    Report this comment

    mlimberg  
  • carl_in_ohio
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 2:24pm

    I fail to see what the point of this article ??
    The President had his grades inflated?? is that the story? Really?
    Is that all “The Blaze” has?

    So, what’s your point? So, the President (who I’m not voting for) was average? Is that the argument?
    talk about scrapping the bottom to make up news.

    if you don’t have any “real news”, don’t report anything.

    Report this comment

    carl_in_ohio  
  • lovesapplepie
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 2:13pm

    @HKS “Remember Benghazi”

    you’re right..I am ending every post with that until those executed Americans get justice..I encourage others to do the same..

    Report this comment

    lovesapplepie  
  • PATTY HENRY
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 1:52pm

    @Anonymous T. Irrelevant Obama is the poster child for what happens under the COMMUNIST method of raising kids, commie teachers and trophies for everyone.
    He is the worst of the crop; He has no respect for himself; no respect for America; no respect for our Constitution. He’s been fed lies all his life from psycho people and now he’s tried to take over the world. Carter was an inept dope. OBAMA is an ENEMY.

    Report this comment

    PATTY HENRY  
  • HYPNOTOAD
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 1:32pm

    I woke up this morning with a great idea! With all the leftists bussing in welfare people to vote and even voting for them probably multiple times and unions giving out money to vote, It got me thinking.

    In the battle ground states, conservative business’ should have a “EBT Appreciation Day” on November 6th. Prey on their need for free stuff and let their greed get the best of them. What ever it is you offer for free, make it super slow to dole out so the lines are long and they get so tired after waiting for hours in line for their free treasure that they will go home to recuperate.

    Fight the libs with their own tactics I say. If you are a conservative theatre owner, offer free movies all day to EBT card holders. Get creative.

    Report this comment

    HYPNOTOAD  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 1:06pm

    Obama had the good luck of arriving at Columbia during a period that was dominated by communists who watered down grades and expectations. Add to that the fact he was a FOREIGN BORN student with a INDONESIAN passport and they filled a niche in he foreign-student requirements. Then there is the AFFIRMATIVE ACTION card which made his ‘C’s into B’s and his ‘B’c (if any) into ‘A’s. There is also the fact that he is a marxist/socialists and so was his professors. He talks about that in one of his books. He brags he and his professors would get together and talk about socialism and ‘social justice’.
    Add all of this together and all the little bast*rd had to do was to show up.

    Report this comment

    thegreatcarnac  
  • 70S_KIDS_FIGHTING_SOCIALISM
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 1:05pm

    Thats only for the segregated super citizens with 10 times more rights of the low white male. Atheist if you believe in survival of the fittest then get with your dying.

    Report this comment

    70S_KIDS_FIGHTING_SOCIALISM  
  • AmericaMustBeFree
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 12:29pm

    I am almost certain that Obama’s grades were F’s for failure.. has anything really changed. He’s still a failure.Yo Obama, you want a socialist/marxist/communist country?? Then move to one.. I am sure that the American people would move you to one!

    Report this comment

    AmericaMustBeFree  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:43am

    I can tell you what they are- All F’s Prove me wrong!

    Report this comment

    Ghandi was a Republican  
  • jessieH
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:28am

    If you are saying Obama was just an ordinary idiot, that’s a big red truck. He’s shown enough stupidity, already.

    Report this comment

    jessieH  
    • Joel Knows
      Posted on November 2, 2012 at 12:22pm

      Average would have be the best of worst and the worst of the best. Average affirmative action and quota students (or employees) is at a lower level as they use a more “liberal” scale for grading those students, and by my experience might include redistribution of the grading curve to bolster the failing averages of those who they are required to pass to meet the quotas based on race or gender. As I remember, there was also a separate criteria for grading at many universities during the late 70’s and early 80’s to assist “foreign” students because of the favorable way tuition was paid for those students at that time. BHO might have benefited by meeting minority and foreign student quotas, even if he didn’t meet academic standards at the time.

      Report this comment

      Joel Knows  
  • jungle J
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:23am

    Why do the weak, lazy and dishonest have the power over the strong , productive and the honest?

    Report this comment

    jungle J  
  • ColoradoMaverick
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:21am

    I doubt very much that Obama was average. I would bet the ranch that he was entirely BELOW average. He got into college because he was black, period. By his own admission he spent his high school years in a drug & alcohol induced daze. What a loser. Romney doesn’t drink at all. he is as straight laced as they get and the kind of person we need in a leadership role. Using illegal drugs any any time in your life should disqualify anyone from being in higher office. We need people who are mentally strong enough and we need people who have morals. Obama supports the murder of innocent babies. No morals there.

    Report this comment

    ColoradoMaverick  
  • Landon410
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:16am

    i could care less about the classes and the grades, I want to see the applications and financial aid paperwork

    Report this comment

    Landon410  
  • Gary_K
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:08am

    We all know that barry isn’t very smart….all his life other people helped him because he could not do it on his own.

    Report this comment

    Gary_K  
  • jerryod1627
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:05am

    One thing we know for sure, obama is a complete fraud and dirt bag. He was a dope head dirt bag in high school and college and still is. We all need to pray that he is voted out Tuesday, that is the only soultion to our problem!

    Report this comment

    jerryod1627  
  • SITDOWNANDSHUTUP
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:03am

    So basically, a BS or BA from Columbia in the ’80s isn’t worth very much. (on the prestige scale)

    By today’s standards, a 4.5 gpa (with honors and AP courses) would not assure you entrance into an Ivy League school today.

    My son had a 4.3 average from the #1 rated HS in our state, and he was accepted at every school except for USC. An Ivy League school would have equal or greater admission requirements to a USC.

    Report this comment

    SITDOWNANDSHUTUP  
    • Joel Knows
      Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:54am

      Maybe, it is based on the ranking of the schools within the University as compared to all other schools, at least on the graduate level. I’m not sure about how it works on the undergrad level, as I only applied to one school and that was based on costs of tuition. Further, on an undergaduate level many of the smaller universities are ranked higher than larger universities because the quality of education is that much better. On an undergraduate level I’d look at universities under 10,000 students and probably below 5,000 students. Being taught by ph.D level instructors who concentrate on teaching and not research is also a good criteria. Universities who mainly focus on research do not do as good a job on the teaching end for undergrads. If education is a goal, look for colleges, schools, or rather disciplines which focus on education within the university. It is a plus if the faculty are focusing on research projects that are geared to undergraduate participation which leads to undergraduates publishing from the research. I attended an undergraduate university that only did research in my discipline where undergraduates participated and emphasized our submitting papers for publication, not the instructor/professor.

      Report this comment

      Joel Knows  
  • crazy777
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:00am

    everyone needs to go to the Harvard law school web site and read the comparison articals between pres Obama and gov. Romney. both are grads of the school and the articals are great though lenghthy.

    Report this comment

    crazy777  
  • Joel Knows
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:58am

    I took classes at another school that did the same thing, The Evergreen State College in Washington State. I had graduated from a traditional school and took a class or two just for fun. We had individual interviews with our professors and negotiated what was written about us by the professor as to accomplishments. It seemed odd and there was little to establish benchmarks as to learning in my opinion. Everyone got the trophy for just showing up to class it seemed to me.
    I’m sure he got plenty of personal endorsements, and they might have even been with the idea that he was going to transfer out and become another school’s problem the next year. The school I graduated from in 1979 was tough enough on grades that I never had any problem getting into any graduate schools, and attended 3 major universities as a grad student. There was a weighting system based on school academic ranks that adjusted GPA when I was applying.

    Report this comment

    Joel Knows  
  • DZ-015
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:57am

    With apologies to “Animal House” and Dean Wormer: Mr. Obama, ZE-ro point ZE-ro. B(luto) Obama: “Four years of electoral college– down the drain.”

    Report this comment

    DZ-015  
  • Cibolo
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:55am

    Apparently the Blaze is screening my messages of truth again today! In short, Obama was born in Kenya, that is why everyone wants to see his passport and school records!

    Report this comment

    Cibolo  
  • schroeder123
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:54am

    Any time there are secrets, there is a lie.

    Report this comment

    schroeder123  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:54am

    Te reference the highly dishonorable Bill Clinton, “bsotero or barracks o” is PURE FICTION, not a fairy tale as slick willie called it, but more a horror story.

    NOTHING, no-thing about the shyster bsbho is true, except that he LIES, always in all ways.

    Report this comment

    kickagrandma  
    • barber2
      Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:06am

      And now Bill Clinton, of the infamous ” is, is dance with truth , ” is now shilling for Obama. What a charming group of shysters are the Far Left Democrats and their international UN allies.

      Report this comment

      barber2  
  • ellietoo
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:53am

    How can it be illegal to release the educational records of someone who wants to run the free world? Shouldn’t any employer be able to look at the kind of education a future employee had? Shouldn’t people want to know? This is insane.

    Report this comment

    ellietoo  
  • GlennaBeckski
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:47am

    Per the Headline .. Not really all that interesting IMO.

    Report this comment

    GlennaBeckski  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:44am

    99% of Obama supporters will never find this information, and if you told them, they would call you a liar.

    Obama will go down in history as a perfect, amazing genius. Period. We might as well get over it now.

    Report this comment

    N37BU6  
    • revelation2012
      Posted on November 2, 2012 at 4:28pm

      he will go down in history as the 1st black president of the United State of America

      ————– majority will never believe him to be an American! —————-

      Report this comment

      revelation2012  
1 2 3 4

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love