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Harvard caps A grades
Harvard faculty voted to cap the number of A grades awarded to undergraduates at 20 percent per course, plus or minus four A’s, and the policy is set to take effect in fall 2027.
“Harvard University faculty has approved a plan to cap the number of A grades instructors can assign to undergraduates in any given course”
The Inside Higher Ed report said the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed the cap in a 458-to-201 vote and that 66 percent of Harvard undergraduates earned A’s and 84 percent earned an A or A-minus during the 2024–25 academic year.
The Washington Post described the vote as taking “assertive action to reverse years of grade inflation” amid “intense scrutiny of higher education,” and it said the cap was aimed at restoring meaning to top grades.
Inside Higher Ed added that the number of possible A-minuses would not be limited under the new grading policy, and it said the cap would be “broadly advertised, including interpretive text on transcripts.”
Subcommittee and student pushback
Inside Higher Ed reported that students were largely unsupportive of the A-grade cap, saying an February survey by the Harvard Undergraduate Association found 85 percent of undergraduates opposed limiting A grades.
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences also approved a policy to use average percentile rank rather than GPA to determine internal honors, prizes and awards like the Sophia Freund Prize, and Inside Higher Ed said a student’s average percentile rank will not appear on their transcript.
In an emailed statement, dean of undergraduate education Amanda Claybaugh said, “This is a consequential vote. It will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard,” and she added it would encourage other institutions to confront similar questions with “rigor and courage.”
Inside Higher Ed said the four faculty members on the grading subcommittee—Stuart Shieber, Alisha Holland, Joshua Greene, and Paulina Alberto—wrote that “A Harvard A grade will now tell them, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved.”
Implementation, review, and stakes
Global News said the cap is based on a “20 plus four” formula and that it will limit A grades to 20 per cent of the letter grades awarded in a course, with the allowance of four additional A grades, beginning in the fall of 2027.
“Harvard University faculty members voted to impose a cap on A grades in undergraduate courses beginning in the fall of 2027”
Global News also reported that the faculty rejected a third proposal that would have allowed courses to petition the Office of Undergraduate Education to opt out of the A-grade limit, and it said the vote did not pass with a vote of 292 to 364.
The Harvard Crimson reported that the policy will be reviewed after three years and that faculty voted 458 to 201 for the first plank, while a companion measure to use average percentile rankings passed 498 to 157 and a third plank failed 292 to 364.
In the Washington Post framing, the vote was described as part of a broader debate over grade inflation, and it said the cap was adopted “at a time of intense scrutiny of higher education,” with the article noting that the policy was intended to reverse grade inflation at Harvard.
