Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to limit the number of A grades awarded to undergraduates. The change responds to grade inflation, where top grades have become so common that they no longer reliably signal exceptional work. University data cited by faculty supporters show that more than 60% of undergraduate grades have fallen in the A range in recent years. Faculty members said the reform will make an A grade communicate real achievement to students, employers, and graduate schools. The policy follows similar efforts at other elite universities, including Princeton’s earlier A-grade cap, which was later abandoned. Nationally, average GPAs at many colleges rose substantially between 1990 and 2020. Harvard’s dean called grade inflation difficult to solve, while a professor praised the vote as a major step against course dilution and reputational harm.
"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. Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist and Harvard psychology professor who has long criticized grade inflation, praised the vote on X. He called it "a big step" in combating the grade inflation that "has been dumbing down our courses, conveying the wrong message to students, and making universities a national laughingstock.""
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