Harvard Faculty Votes to Cap A Grades, Combat Inflation

Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to impose a roughly 20% cap on A grades awarded in undergraduate courses, marking the most aggressive attempt in decades to reverse grade inflation at one of America’s most prestigious universities. The vote, which passed 458 to 201 (69.5%), will take effect in fall 2027 and represents a sweeping intervention in Harvard’s academic culture.

The Vote and the “20+4” Formula

Under the approved policy, known as the “20+4” formula, A grades in each undergraduate course will be limited to 20% of enrollment plus up to four additional A’s at the professor’s discretion. In a class of 100 students, for example, up to 24 can receive A grades; in a seminar of 10, up to six can earn top marks. Overall, A’s would account for approximately 34% of all grades — a return to levels last seen in 2011, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Faculty also approved a companion measure, 498 to 157, to use average percentile rankings rather than GPA to determine internal awards and honors. A third proposal that would have allowed courses to opt out of the A cap by using a satisfactory/unsatisfactory system was rejected 292 to 364.

Why Harvard Is Acting Now

The vote follows years of rising grade inflation that has compressed Harvard’s grading system at the top. In the 2024-25 academic year, over 60% of undergraduate letter grades were A’s — more than double the roughly 25% two decades ago. The median graduating GPA has risen from 3.64 (Class of 2015) to 3.83 (Class of 2025), and since 2016-17, the median Harvard College GPA has been an A, as Forbes reported.

Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh, who released a 25-page report in October 2025 warning that Harvard’s grading system was “failing,” hailed the vote as a consequential step. “It will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard; it will also, I hope, encourage other institutions to confront similar questions with the same level of rigor and courage,” she said in a statement.

The faculty subcommittee that drafted the proposal argued that grades had lost their signaling value. “A Harvard A grade will now tell them, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved,” the committee wrote. “An A will once again be what Harvard’s guidelines have long said it is: a mark of extraordinary distinction.”

Faculty and Student Reactions

Support for the cap was not unanimous among faculty. Prof. Steven Levitsky, a 26-year veteran of Harvard’s government department, told WBUR that while the policy is “clumsy and arbitrary and takes away some faculty autonomy,” it had become necessary. “We’ve just gotten to the point where everybody expects an A all the time, and so we need to do something,” he said.

Prof. Alisha Holland, who served on the drafting committee, noted that the challenges extend beyond Harvard. “This is part of a broader discussion in higher education,” she told WBUR. She also highlighted the problem of “perfectionism,” arguing that many students believe a perfect 4.0 GPA is attainable, which discourages intellectual risk-taking.

Students, however, have broadly opposed the proposal. A February survey by the Harvard Undergraduate Association found that nearly 85% of respondents disapproved. Hyunsoo Lee, a sophomore and HUA academic officer, told WBUR he worries the cap will heighten competition. “I’m worried that students will be more competitive in extracurriculars just like they are now,” he said. “I’m worried that this A cap will add in another extra layer of stress.”

Not all students are opposed. Sofia Mikulasek, a junior philosophy major, said she supports the change because it “forces people to contend with the idea that, like, an A is not an easy thing and it’s also not a necessary thing.”

A National Problem

Harvard’s move comes amid a broader national debate about grade inflation. The average U.S. college GPA rose from 2.81 in 1990 to 3.15 in 2020 — a 21% increase, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the trend, according to The Guardian.

Harvard is not the first elite institution to attempt grade deflation. Princeton imposed a 35% cap on A-range grades in 2004 but abandoned it in 2014 after reports that it exacerbated competitive culture. Wellesley College tried a similar approach in 2004 but ended the policy in 2019 over concerns about graduate school competitiveness. More recently, Yale recommended a 3.0 mean GPA standard.

What Comes Next

The policy will be implemented in fall 2027 and is scheduled for review after three years. The vote leaves several open questions: Will professors shift grading toward A- and B+ grades to compensate? Will Harvard students be disadvantaged when competing nationally for jobs and graduate school placements? And how will other institutions — including Yale, Stanford, and MIT — respond to Harvard’s bold move?

What is clear is that Harvard has taken the most aggressive step of any elite American university in recent memory to restore meaning to its most coveted grade. As Dean Claybaugh put it, the goal is to ensure that “an A will once again be what Harvard’s guidelines have long said it is: a mark of extraordinary distinction.”