When you attend class at an institution of higher education, you go to learn. But society puts too much pressure on students, telling them a high grade-point average is everything. Really, it's what you learn from a class that's important.

Grades are only relative.

Lately, people have been making a stir about the concept of grade inflation. Students are getting higher grades and doing less work to get them.

A study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute has found a 26.5 percent increase in the number of high school seniors who earned an "A" average.

Of those students, 16 percent said they study one hour a week; this is double the amount of students who answered the same question similarly in 1987.

Ideally, people should get a grade based on what they learn in a class. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world.

One student who can memorize anything gets a 4.0 in a class he or she takes nothing from, but a friend who studied hard and learned a lot, but is bad with tests earns a 2.5.

The best system is one in which students receive a grade based on what they took from each class. Often times, however, it's hard to give a grade which accurately depicts what a student learned.

Even though it might sound appealing, it wouldn't be enough for a professor to affirm that a student learned something and not hand out a grade. Certainly we have enough labels in our society, but there needs to be a system of measurement.

And it's not just a student problem. Everyone's had that professor who's only at the university to take advantage of research money but is required to teach.

The professor couldn't care less about the grades he or she gives and whether their students pass or fail, regardless of what they learn.

Of course, there's always that one professor who will deny a student a deserving grade because he or she "can only give so many 4.0s."

Obviously, this is not a problem in high school. But there's another problem that's plaguing secondary schools: People are getting too P.C.

A high school government teacher has a student who doesn't care about the class and is in danger of failing.

But the student's parents appeal to the teacher, saying that if the student fails, he can't graduate, go on to college and get a good job. So the teacher gives the student a good grade out of kindness.

The fact of the matter is the student has no intention of learning or pursuing a higher education.

But he or she receives a passing grade because now-a-days holding back a high school student is becoming a taboo thing.

Educators, be they in high school or college, should not give meaningless grades to their students, be it out of politeness or apathy.

And conversely, students should work for the grades they receive to give them meaning.

Because when a student memorizes a bunch of terms, aces an exam, goes out drinking to celebrate and can't remember the next day what the test was even about, the principle of higher education is lost.