Personally, as a partaker of the college educational system at the moment, I find it best not to generalize too much. I’ve taken classes that were supposed to be easy A’s and ended up finding the one teacher that took the class seriously. Ultimately, it’s up to who teaches the subject and what you yourself can get out of a class that matters more than grades and degrees.

Besides, the diploma’s more of a techincality than anything else nowadays. Something that makes getting a job easier, not much else.

It depends on the student and their ability to learn. Also, depends on their high school background. Depends on the university, university’s politics, the subject, the professor, etc.

Colleges, whether it is the University of X or those online schools you see on TV, are businesses and want to make money. That is probably the biggest reason.

Like I said it depends on so many factors. Mostly the person.

Math and science come easy to me, but if I did something like religious studies I would struggle. I got my BS in Math and Physics. It was so-so hard. I got tired of it and moved on to engineering. Even at the graduate level, I find engineering to be nicer. IMost of the engineering theory I have encountered… is just physics.

Speaking of that though. At my undergraduate university, my introductory physics classes were dumbed down. The college of engineering didn’t like how many of their students were failing and barely passing, it is a required course for them.

The complaints were so bad, the University was considering of removing the departmental status for the physics department, because of low enrollment.

The department wasn’t folded. A new director of undergraduate studies came in and re-did the whole intro physics sequence. One of the professors who teachs such courses every once in awhile is banned form assigining grades.

People that pay more for an education, tend to get higher paid (and usually higher quality) professors who are more likely to care about their students and their education.

Many private colleges still offer a rigorous cirriculum.

A lot of the grade inflation started in the Vietnam era. Professors knew that if they failed a student, and he had to leave school, he might end up going to Vietnam, so they passed everyone.