Final answer:
A study found a correlation between high-school grades and later health, but causation is not established. Grade inflation may affect the reliability of GPA as a success indicator. To boost GPA, students should focus on increasing study time and class attendance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The study by Pamela Herd suggests a correlation between high-school grades and health later in life; specifically, that students with higher GPAs tend to report better health in their 60s. However, this does not necessarily mean that increasing one's GPA will lead to healthier lives. There could be many underlying factors that contribute to both high grades and better health outcomes, such as socioeconomic status, personal habits, and social supports, which are not accounted for in the correlation. To truly understand if a higher GPA causes better health outcomes, additional research would be needed that controls for these potential confounding variables.
When considering the topic of grade inflation, we can see that the meaning of grades has shifted over time. What used to be a "C" or average grade may now often be considered a "B" or even an "A." This phenomenon may distort the relationship between actual academic achievement and reported grades. Consequently, GPAs may not be as reliable an indicator of student ability or effort as they once were.
If a college student wants to raise their GPA according to an equation that places emphasis on the number of hours spent studying, the clear path would be to increase study time and class attendance rather than focusing on things that cannot be changed, like past SAT scores.