Amid a weak economy and tight job market, Princeton students are blaming the University’s rigid grading policy for a drop in job placements, according to a Friday article by the New York Times.

Last year saw the number of A- range grades at Princeton drop below 40 percent, down from nearly 50 percent recorded in 2004, the year when the University introduced a policy that aimed to restrict the number of A-range grades in each undergraduate course to 35 percent.

Princeton also saw a 30 percent drop in job placements last year in the finance and consulting industries.

In a college survey conducted last year, 32 percent of students cited grading policy as their top source of stress. Last month, the Daily Princetonian published an editorial denouncing the policy.

“The nightmare scenario, if you will, is that you apply with a 3.5 from Princeton and someone just as smart as you applies with a 3.8 from Yale,” said Daniel E. Rauch, a senior from Millburn, N.J., in an interview with The New York Times.