Harvard University To Toughen Grading System: Cap A Grades At 20% Of Students | Education and Career News
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Beginning in fall 2027, most letter-graded courses at Harvard University will cap A grades at 20% of students, with a small allowance for a few additional As.
A student survey they conducted found that a large majority of respondents opposed limiting A-range grades. (File Photo)
Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences has approved a major change to undergraduate grading: it will place limits on how many top grades (A range) instructors can assign. The decision was confirmed through a faculty vote held earlier this month and is set to take effect in the 2027–28 academic year, reported AP.
The reform is aimed at addressing long-standing concerns about grade inflation. Faculty members argued that A grades have become so widespread in recent years that they no longer clearly distinguish truly outstanding academic work. Internal data cited in support of the policy indicated that more than 60% of undergraduate grades have fallen within the A range in recent years.
A faculty committee member, psychology professor Joshua Greene, described the problem as a kind of “tyranny of the perfect transcript,” arguing that students may feel pressured to prioritise flawless grades over intellectual risk-taking. Supporters of the change say reducing the prevalence of top marks could encourage deeper learning and experimentation rather than grade optimisation.
The committee behind the proposal said the intention was to restore meaning to top grades, emphasising that an A should once again represent a clear signal of exceptional performance to employers and graduate schools. Another faculty leader involved in shaping the policy, government professor Alisha Holland, characterised it as a student-friendly reform designed to preserve GPA stability while improving the signaling value of transcripts.
The policy sets a cap beginning in fall 2027: in most letter-graded courses, instructors will be limited to awarding A grades to no more than 20% of students, with a small additional allowance for a few extra students. Faculty also approved replacing GPA-based comparisons with average percentile rankings when determining honors and academic awards. A separate proposal that would have allowed departments to bypass the cap by switching grading systems did not pass.
Not all reactions were positive. The Harvard Undergraduate Association leadership, including co-presidents Zach Berg and Daniel Zhao, criticised the process, saying students were not sufficiently included in the decision-making. A student survey they conducted found that a large majority of respondents opposed limiting A-range grades.
Some faculty and outside academics, however, welcomed the move. Harvard dean of undergraduate education Amanda Claybaugh called grade inflation a difficult, widely recognised problem without easy solutions. At the same time, psychology professor Steven Pinker, long an outspoken critic of grade inflation, praised the decision, arguing that unchecked inflation had weakened academic standards and distorted competition among universities.
Outside Harvard, political scientist Max Abrahms supported the reform, saying that grades lose their value when everyone receives top marks. Education researcher Stuart Rojstaczer also suggested that if similar policies spread more widely, they could mark a broader cultural shift in higher education, though he noted it remains uncertain whether such reforms will endure or be adopted elsewhere.
Overall, the change reflects a wider debate in U.S. higher education, where GPA averages have steadily risen over decades, prompting ongoing questions about how best to preserve academic standards and meaningful evaluation.
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