High school teachers are flinging out "A" grades to students these days with great abandon, college admissions officers complain. And that is causing them problems in trying to determine who gets in and who doesn't.

• Studies by the University of California at Los Angeles reveal that 31.5 percent of college freshmen nationwide last fall reported average grades of not less than "A-" -- twice the proportion of 30 years ago.

• Only one-fourth of college applicants average less than a "B" -- down from 35 percent in 1990 and 45 percent in 1966.
• The U. S. Department of Education says that "A's" and "B's" in many urban schools are no better than "C's" and "D's."

• For "A" students entering college, SAT scores have actually dropped several points in the past decade.

School districts pump up grades for non-academic achievements, such as class attendance or community service. And more than half of all school districts now weight grades -- awarding points to taking college prep courses. But these systems differ widely from city to city and school district to school district.

• More than one-quarter of college entrants need tutoring or remedial courses in math; one-in-eight in English.

• Consequently, many take longer to finish college than students did 20 years ago -- at an average extra cost of $7,000 a year at a public college and $18,000 at a private school.

Source: Editorial, "When Everyone Gets an A, Grades are Meaningless," USA Today, March 25, 1997.