The use of this little-known practice has accelerated in recent years, as colleges continue to do their utmost to keep students in school (and paying tuition) and improve their graduation rates. When this practice first started decades ago, it was usually limited to freshmen, to give them a second chance to take a class in their first year if they struggled in their transition to college-level courses. But now most colleges, save for many selective campuses, allow all undergraduates, and even graduate students, to get their low grades forgiven.
这一鲜为人知的做法近年来得到了加速，因为大学继续尽最大努力让学生留在学校（并支付学费），提高他们的毕业率。几十年前，这一做法刚开始时，通常只限于新生，如果他们在向大学水平课程过渡的过程中遇到困难，可以在第一年给他们重修的机会。但现在大多数大学，除了许多严格筛选的校园，允许所有的本科生，甚至研究生，他们的低分数得到宽恕。
Grade forgiveness allows students to retake a course in which they received a low grade, and the most recent grade or the highest grade is the only one that counts in calculating a student’s overall GPA.
分数宽恕允许学生重修一门他们低分数的课程，而最近的分数或最高的分数是计算学生总平均分数的唯一一个因素。
Grade inflation — the gradual increase in average GPAs (grade-point averages) over the past few decades — is often considered a product of a consumer era in higher education, in which students are treated like customers to be pleased. But another, related force — a policy often buried deep in course catalogs called “Grade forgiveness” — is helping raise GPAs.
分数膨胀——过去几十年中平均GPA（平均分数）的逐渐提高——通常被认为是高等教育消费时代的产物，在这个时代，学生被当作顾客一样来对待。但另一个相关的力量——一项经常深藏在课程目录中的政策，叫做“分数宽恕”——正在帮助提高GPA。
That said, there is a way in which grade forgiveness satisfies colleges’ own needs as well. For public institutions, state funds are sometimes tied partly to their success on metrics such as graduation rates and student retention — so better grades can, by boosting figures like those, mean more money. And anything that raises GPAs will likely make students — who, at the end of the day, are paying the bill — feel they’ve gotten a better value for their tuition dollars, which is another big concern for colleges.
也就是说，有一种方式可以让学生的分数宽恕满足他们自己的需要。对于公共机构来说，国家资金有时与它们在诸如毕业率和学生留校率等指标上的成功有部分联系，因此，通过提高这些数据，更好的分数可以意味着更多的钱。任何提高GPA的措施都有可能让学生们觉得他们的学费已经变得更值钱了，这也是大学的另一大担忧。
College officials tend to emphasize that the goal of grade forgiveness is less about the grade itself and more about encouraging students to retake courses critical to their degree program and graduation without incurring a big penalty. “Untimely,” said Jack Miner, Ohio State University’s registrar, “we see students achieve more success because they retake a course and do better in subsequent contents or master the content that allows them to graduate on time.”
校方人员倾向于强调，分数宽恕的目标与其说是分数本身，不如说是鼓励学生重修对学位课程和毕业至关重要的课程，而不会招致很大的惩罚。俄亥俄州立大学（Ohio State University）教务长杰克·米纳（Jack Miner）说：“我们看到学生取得更大的成功，是因为他们重修了一门课程，在随后的内容上做得更好，或者掌握了能让他们按时毕业的内容。”
Indeed, grade forgiveness is just another way that universities are responding to consumers’ expectations for higher education. Since students and parents expect a college degree to lead to a job, it is in the best interest of a school to turn out graduates who are as qualified as possible — or at least appear to be. On this, students’ and colleges’ incentives seem to be aligned.
事实上，分数宽恕只是大学回应消费者对高等教育期望的另一种方式。因为学生和家长都希望大学学位能带来工作，所以培养出尽可能合格的毕业生——或者至少看起来是合格的毕业生，对学校最有利。在这方面，学生和大学的激励措施似乎是一致的。
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