Harvard University faculty have approved a policy restricting how many undergraduate students can receive an A in a given course, aiming to reverse a long-term increase in top grades that university leaders say has weakened academic standards.
In hundreds of votes cast over the past week, more than two-thirds of participating faculty supported a rule that caps A grades at no more than one-fifth of students enrolled in a course, plus up to four additional students. The university will implement the change beginning in the fall semester of 2027.
The effort is among the first formal moves by a major U.S. university to address what many faculty members describe as pervasive grade inflation. Administrators and professors who favor the change say the growing share of A marks has made it more difficult to distinguish genuine academic excellence.
An October report by Amanda Claybaugh, Harvard's Dean of Undergraduate Education, framed the trend as harmful to the college's academic culture. The report warned that grade inflation was "damaging the academic culture" by influencing students to select classes where they expect to do well, increasing stress over lower grades, and "hollowing out" students' sense of achievement.
The report documented a steady rise in the proportion of A grades awarded at the college: 24% in 2005, 40% in 2015, and 60% in 2025. In the wake of the faculty vote, Dean Claybaugh described the cap as "an important step toward ensuring that our grading system better serves its central purposes," including "recognizing genuine distinction." She added in a statement after the vote: "It will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard."
The new policy applies specifically to A grades and does not set limits on other letter grades such as A-. Harvard does not use A+ in its grading scale. During the same series of faculty votes, members rejected a separate proposal that would have allowed course instructors to request exemptions from the cap on A grades.
Proponents say the policy is intended to restore clearer signaling of exceptional student performance. Opponents and those who sought exemptions had argued for flexibility on a course-by-course basis, but faculty did not approve that alternative during the voting period.
Context and next steps
The cap will be in place starting fall 2027. Faculty and administrators will oversee implementation and monitor outcomes, consistent with the university's decision to address what its leadership has characterized as a broad cultural and academic concern.