EDITORIAL: Make the grade, but keep it private

Wharton officials should not reverse the non-disclosure grade policy for MBA students. If administrators are concerned that non-disclosure is hurting the school's reputation as well as graduates' abilities to obtain competitive jobs, then they should wait a few years and conduct a study to determine the policy's effects. It is too early to conclude that there are negative effects of non-disclosure. Recruiters don't look just at grades when examining applicants. Past experience and interviews are often much more important in the job search process. At the MBA level, students have typically already spent a few years in the workforce. Wharton's MBA program should focus more on learning than on grades. The school's undergraduate classes are already grade-competitive. Those who come to Wharton's graduate program should not be preoccupied with cutthroat competition in their learning environment. There is no evidence to suggest that the current non-disclosure policy encourages students to do merely the minimum amount of work required to pass, as opponents of the plan have suggested. In 1994, Wharton graduate students passed the referendum in favor of non-disclosure. There is no reason why administrators feel the need to change a policy that students seem to think works.