Harvard Faculty Caps A Grades to Curb Grade Inflation
Faculty vote limits straight A's to 20% plus four starting fall 2027 to restore meaning of Harvard A grades.
Overview
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to limit A grades to 20 percent of students in a class, plus four additional students, to take effect in fall 2027, the faculty said.
The change follows concerns about grade inflation after A-range grades made up roughly 60 percent of undergraduate grades in 2025, the subcommittee said.
Members of the grading subcommittee said the policy will restore meaning to Harvard A grades for students, employers and graduate schools.
Faculty approved the cap by a vote of 458 to 201, rejected an opt-out satisfactory/unsatisfactory alternative 364 to 292, and approved an average percentile-rank system for honors 498 to 157.
The policies will begin in fall 2027 and be reviewed after a three-year trial period, and student leaders said they were disappointed students were not centered in the process.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources generally present this reporting as neutral: they balance supportive faculty quotes (Joshua Greene, Alisha Holland, Steven Pinker) with student objections (Harvard Undergraduate Association leaders and survey results), include factual context (grade-inflation statistics, Princeton precedent), and avoid loaded editorial language, leaving evaluative phrasing within sourced quotations.