College administrators warn that President Clinton's plan to grant tax credits to parents of college students who maintain good grades would doom efforts to control grade inflation. College professors would be under pressure to raise the grades of mediocre students or see the students -- and the fees they represent -- shut out of the process.

For their parents to be eligible for the tax breaks, students would have to keep a B average or better.

The problem of grade inflation on college campuses is a very real one.

• In 1969, only 7 percent of college students achieved a better than A- average -- soaring to 26 percent in 1993.

• Averages of C or below fell to 9 percent from 25 percent.

Some professors also fear that tying money to good grades will encourage some students to take easier courses -- avoiding science and math where more students receive Cs and Ds.

The president's tax credit proposal would affect families earning less than $100,000 a year or 4.2 million students -- 29 percent of the college population according to the Department of Education.

Source: William M. Bulkeley, "Would Tax Plan Further Inflate College Grades?" Wall Street Journal, April 22, 1997.