Harvard faculty has voted to impose a mandatory cap on A grades, limiting them to roughly 20% of students in each class, in an effort to combat decades of grade inflation. The policy, approved by a vote of 458 to 201, will take effect in the fall of 2027. Under the so-called “20 plus four” formula, up to 24 students out of 100 can receive an A grade.
The decision follows a report from October 2025 that warned the college’s evaluation system was “failing to perform the key functions of grading”. The report found that more than 60% of grades awarded to Harvard undergraduates are As, compared with only a quarter two decades ago, and concluded that the grading system was “damaging the academic culture of the College”.
Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, said the reforms were necessary to “restore the integrity of our grading and return the academic culture of the College to what it was in the recent past”. The faculty also voted to use average percentile rankings instead of GPA for internal awards and honours, but rejected a proposal allowing courses to opt out of the cap if they used a different grading system.
The move has faced significant opposition from students, with nearly 85% of respondents to a February survey disapproving of the proposals. Some faculty members argued that the cap could heighten competition, discourage intellectual risk-taking, and infringe on their autonomy. Despite this, Claybaugh called the vote an “important step” toward repairing Harvard’s grading system, adding that she hoped it would encourage other institutions to confront similar issues.
