Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes This is a trend... in case you haven't noticed... “Many students come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark,” Professor Grossman said. “Some assert that they have never gotten a grade as low as this before.” He attributes those complaints to his students’ sense of entitlement. "I think putting in a lot of effort should merit a high grade," Mr. Greenwood said. "What else is there really than the effort that you put in?" I have noticed the trend. One response I use comes from the great wise Yoda "Do or do not, there is no try". I've actually had a student chew me out for a lower than expected grade. She informed me that, since she paid such a high tuition, I "worked for her." In other words, many students now believe that their professors and instructors are their employees/servants. This probably explains a larger amount of lack of respect for professors and instructors, and a greater sense of entitlement to inflated grades. I only occasionally get that attitude from students –probably in part because I make it very clear, in person and on my syllabus, that in this class, I’M ultimately in charge of the evaluation of their performance, and that showing up in NOT, in fact, worth 90% to me. (I also explain exactly what I do value, and how that shows up in the calculation of their course grade.) But even assuming that in a few cases this squelches the impulse to confront me with their displeasure at a lower-than-self-awarded "fantasy grade", I'm convinced that MOST of my students know perfectly well that they themselves are ultimately responsible for getting their money’s worth from their college experience, even if that value sometimes comes with a dose of disappointment. How they DEAL with that disappointment is a pretty decent gauge of their evolving maturity; I’m going to venture a guess that these sorts of clueless reactions come mostly from freshmen, maybe some sophomores? I suppose there will always be few people who just will never grow out of that infantile conception of social reality, but if LOTS of juniors and seniors are still that dumb? Then I think their teachers must be considered at least somewhat culpable.