Remember the days when college students fantasized about being tech savvy enough to hack the campus computer system and change their GPA to a 4.0? For students at Columbia University, A's come easily—no hacking necessary. According to leaked stats obtained by the school's student paper, the Spectator, professors gave A's and A-pluses to 8 percent of undergrads. Is it grade inflation, or are Columbia's students really just that smart?

The Spectator obtained a spreadsheet with data on 482 students, including their class years, majors, and academic advisers, when a dean mistakenly emailed it to students. According to the data, economics, English, and history majors are more likely to rack up A's, as are seniors.