It can be if you want it to. At Harvard, there's very few requirements on what courses constitute a degree, so if you want to get a degree by just taking the easiest classes possible, you can definitely do that. Of course, most students don't do that since that's not why they went there. I do think professors try to give higher grade averages for the harder classes to avoid punishing students for challenging themselves, but I don't really have a problem with that (if you chose those classes you're probably not in it for the grades anyway). Also, at least I'm the sciences, a good fraction of students start taking classes at the graduate level either freshman or sophomore year, since they'll have completed a good chunk of the undergrad curriculum in high school.
I have heard the same thing about universities in Japan. High school in Japan is so much pressure that some students crack under it, but then once you get to university it is supposedly easily to just slack off for your entire degree program.
No one has ever hired me based on my college grades. The first job I had checked to see I graduated from college. Every other job has been based on experience and my record of performance.
I've had it this happen. It was a startup that was ran and helmed by mostly people from academia. These people have never been outside of academia so that might have influenced there decision to check my grades.
