That present grading practices are inadequate to their intended tasks, grading purposes as well as practices require examinations, and the social and educational effects of grading have been too long neglected are the basic axioms of educational reporters and academic professionals. This paper focuses on the problem of grade inflation, its causes and results. Included is a brief historical sketch of the evolution of grading systems in this country along with a discussion of current grading options, ways of measuring student achievement and the uses to which grades are put by the university and society. Whether the reinstatement of conventional (A-F) grading and the insistence on rigorous enforcement of standards by institution are possible or desirable are questioned. It is suggested that the growing belief that learning is independent of evaluation has profound consequences and could be the idea around which future grading systems will revolve. (Author)