Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences has voted to limit the number of A grades awarded to undergraduates, in an effort to curb grade inflation. The decision, made by faculty vote earlier this month, aims to make earning straight A’s more difficult.
The move comes after top grades became so common that some Harvard faculty argued they no longer reliably distinguished exceptional work. More than 60% of all grades awarded to undergraduates in recent years were in the A range, according to university data.
Harvard is not the first elite university to confront grade inflation. Princeton University adopted a policy in 2004 to limit A-range grades to 35% of those awarded, though it abandoned the system a decade later after criticism that it disadvantaged students in competition for jobs and graduate school admission.
Nationally, grade-point averages at four-year public and nonprofit colleges rose more than 16% between 1990 and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
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“The Harvard faculty voted to make their grades mean what they say they mean,” members of the faculty subcommittee that proposed the changes said in a statement. They said the reform would ensure that “a Harvard A grade will now tell students, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved.”
Amanda Claybaugh, Harvard’s dean of undergraduate education, called grade inflation a “complex and thorny issue” and a “problem that many people have recognized, but no one has solved” in a statement Wednesday.
Changes to Grading Policy
Beginning in fall 2027, instructors in letter-graded courses at Harvard College will be allowed to award A grades to no more than 20% of students in a class, plus four additional students. Other letter grades, including A-minus, will not be subject to a limit.
Faculty also approved a proposal to use average percentile rank rather than grade-point average when comparing students for honors, prizes and awards.
A separate proposal that would have allowed courses to opt out of the A-grade cap by switching to a satisfactory/unsatisfactory system with a new SAT+ designation for exceptional performance failed.
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The new policies will be reviewed after three years. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is Harvard’s largest school, comprising 40 academic departments.
Implications of the New Policy
The decision to limit A grades is likely to have far-reaching implications for Harvard students and faculty. It may lead to a more accurate representation of student achievement and help to reduce grade inflation.
However, some critics argue that the new policy may have unintended consequences, such as discouraging students from taking challenging courses or affecting their competitiveness in the job market.
The university will likely monitor the effects of the new policy and make adjustments as needed. They will review the policy after three years to assess its impact.
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