It is getting more and more competitive to get into a prestigious university. One must be a straight A student with a high SAT score to even get into a prestigious public university, such as the University of Washington.
In 2012 the Seattle Times published an article which stated that the average GPA of incoming freshman at the University of Washington in fall 2011 was 3.75. This points out an interesting problem, which is the inflation of grades.
If students need to get better and better grades to get accepted to college, it will eventually devalue the GPA. Furthermore, it could create added stress for young students if they receive a grade that is not an A, such as an B or C. This type of grade inflation could influence the grading scale in a negative way.