Harvard Faculty Votes to Cap A Grades at 20 Percent

Harvard University faculty members voted to cap the number of A's awarded to undergraduate students.

By a vote of 458 to 201, faculty approved a measure that limits A grades to 20 percent of the class plus four additional per course, the university confirmed Wednesday. There is no limit on the number of A-minuses or other grades that can be given. A separate proposal that would have allowed courses to opt out of the cap was rejected by a vote of 364 to 292.

The new policy takes effect in the fall of 2027 and will be reviewed after three years.

Members of the Subcommittee on Grading said the change would give students, employers and graduate schools clearer information about academic performance. "A Harvard A grade will now tell them, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved," the subcommittee said.

The subcommittee added that grade inflation had become a collective-action problem that individual faculty members could not solve alone. "Today the Harvard faculty voted to make their grades mean what they say they mean," it said.

Harvard began considering the change after the subcommittee found that too many students were receiving A's. Employers and graduate school admissions offices told the university that Harvard transcripts no longer provided useful information.

A university report showed that A's accounted for 60 percent of undergraduate grades in 2025, up from 40 percent in 2015 and 20 percent in 2005.

Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, praised the decision. "This is a consequential vote," she said. "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."

Zach Berg and Daniel Zhao, co-presidents of the Harvard University Association, expressed disappointment that students had not been consulted more during the process. "Although we recognize the issue with the status quo, we are disappointed that student voices have not been centered throughout the decision-making process," they said. "However, we will continue to fight for students' academic interests over the coming year about how we can best prepare students before this comes into effect in the 2027 academic year."