It is a new year on the Hilltop, which means that new changes are coming along with it. One of the most first changes involves the Dean’s List. According to Dean Mark Cronin, “For the current school year students who register for and complete twelve or more credits of study at the College during a given semester and who achieve in that semester a grade point average of 3.1 are eligible for inclusion in the Dean’s List of Scholars.” Previously, only students who were taking 16 credits were eligible for the academic honor.

Over the next several years, the Dean’s List will be undergoing even more changes, but Cronin says that “Current students don’t have to worry,” since there will not be any rapid adjustments. Slowly, the GPA requirement to make the list will go increase. During the 2018 and 2019 academic year, the grade point average required per semester will be a 3.2, followed by a 3.3 in the 2019 and 2020 academic year; and finally, 3.4 in the 2020 and 2021 and all subsequent academic years. This will be similar to Dean’s List requirement at other schools like Saint Anselm. Stonehill College, for example, has a semester GPA requirement of 3.5 to make the Dean’s List.

When asked about the reason behind the new Dean’s List, Cronin responded simply that Saint Anselm College was evolving. In a campus-wide email, he wrote that “Grading standards have changed significantly over time: in the 1980s and 1990s, approximately two thirds of a professor’s grades fell below the “B” line, and less than 20% of students achieved Dean’s List honors.” The ultimate class sizes have been changing. “A philosophy class that may have had thirty students years ago now has ten.” Saint Anselm students are now able to engage with professors in ways that were not possible before. Classes are not getting easier at Saint Anselm, grades are just rising accordingly.

Meanwhile, there is a more academically diverse class of students enrolling in the college. According to the college, the class of 2021 has the strongest academic incoming GPA on record, with an average high school GPA of 3.28.  

This year, 17% of that class was invited to participate in Saint Anselm’s Honors Program and those students had an average GPA of 3.74. Therefore, the new requirements for Dean’s List are a reflection of these rising grades. Ultimately, Dean Cronin hopes that this change means that it will be more significant to be honored academically at Saint Anselm College.