Harvard College will impose a mandatory cap on the number of A grades awarded, following a faculty vote to curb decades of grade inflation that, according to the faculty, diminishes the value of top-tier academic achievement.
New Grading Policy
The policy, set to take effect in fall 2027, limits A grades to approximately 20% of students in a class. Under the agreed "20 plus four" formula, a class of 100 undergraduates can award A grades to no more than 24 students.
Background and Rationale
The decision follows an October 2025 report sent to faculty and students, which warned that Harvard's evaluation system was "failing to perform the key functions of grading." The 25-page report revealed that over 60% of grades awarded to undergraduates are As, compared to only a quarter two decades ago. It concluded that grade inflation was "damaging the academic culture of the College."
Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, stated that the reforms are necessary to "restore the integrity of our grading and return the academic culture of the College to what it was in the recent past."
Faculty Vote and Proposals
Harvard's faculty voted 458 to 201 in favor of the first proposal to cap top grades. A second proposal, to use average percentile rankings instead of GPA for internal awards and honors, also passed. However, a third proposal allowing courses to opt out of the cap if they used a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system was rejected.
Opposition and Concerns
The move faced significant opposition from the student body, with nearly 85% of respondents to a February survey disapproving of the proposals. Some faculty members argued that grade capping could heighten competition, discourage intellectual risk-taking, and infringe on their autonomy.
Official Statements
In a statement to the Harvard Crimson, Claybaugh called the vote an "important step" toward repairing Harvard's grading system. She added that the decision "will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard; it will also, I hope, encourage other institutions to confront similar questions with the same level of rigor and courage."
The subcommittee that drafted the proposals said the cap would restore the value of a Harvard transcript. "This matters for our students above all. A Harvard A grade will now tell them, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved," they wrote. "An A will once again be what Harvard’s guidelines have long said it is: a mark of extraordinary distinction."
The Guardian has contacted Harvard for further comment.
