On 20/5, the Harvard University faculty council approved a 20% cap on A grades, effective from the next fall semester. This cap allows for flexibility, with up to four additional students depending on class size.

Additionally, a second proposal was approved, which involves using students' average percentile rank instead of their grade point average (GPA) for awarding prizes and honors.

Amanda Claybaugh, Dean of Undergraduate Education, called this a "major victory." Previously, the subcommittee developing this proposal had warned that excessive grading at Harvard made it difficult for the university to distinguish between truly excellent work and merely good work.

This action also indicates that most professors are willing to support a limit to curb grade inflation. This is considered the university's most decisive step in recent decades to reshape academic standards.

Professors at Yale University expressed support for the measure, though they also pointed out some areas needing refinement. These included the potential for an increase in A- grades and a perceived lack of focus on intellectual development goals.

Sarath Sanga, a professor at Yale Law School, exclaimed, "bravo Harvard," given what he described as the current "terrible and illogical" grade distribution.

Ray Fair, a professor of Economics at Yale, believes this move will encourage other universities to do the same, as they will not want their A grades to be perceived as less valuable than Harvard's.

A corner of Harvard University campus. Photo: The Harvard Crimson

Meanwhile, Andrew Ng, a Stanford University professor and founder of the online learning platform Coursera, publicly opposes this new regulation.

He acknowledges that education should set high standards, but he argues it must also help 100% of learners succeed, rather than limiting success to a small percentage.

"The core issue lies in the role of schools. Should our goal be to help students succeed, or to evaluate students?" he questioned, stating that education should pursue the former.

Below his post, many comments agreed, pointing out that a consequence would be a reduction in the spirit of knowledge sharing, as learning transforms into a competition among students rather than a collaborative effort to improve together. Other opinions suggested that instead of adjusting grade distribution, Harvard should redesign the difficulty of its examinations.

Andrew also does not believe the new regulation will make GPAs more meaningful or help employers find better candidates. He asserts that companies already have screening and interview processes to determine an individual's skills, which are more accurate than relying solely on grades.

A few months ago, an internal survey also revealed that 85% of Harvard students opposed the A-grade cap, citing concerns about infringing on faculty autonomy and increasing competitive pressure among students.

Efforts to reduce grade inflation at Harvard were prompted by a report last year. The report indicated that over 60% of grades awarded in the 2024-2025 academic year were A's, a sharp increase from 25% two decades prior. Despite increasingly high grades, students were, in fact, studying less. Many students skipped classes, were preoccupied with electronic devices, pretended to have done the readings, but did not participate.

Faculty members proactively reduced the percentage of A grades by almost 7% last fall, but the approval vote exceeding 70% indicates that university leadership desires a more comprehensive solution.

By Khanh Linh (According to The Harvard Crimson, The Guardian, The New York Times)