U.S. News

Harvard’s faculty is set to vote next week on a faculty committee proposal to cap the number of A grades per course in an effort to curb grade inflation.

The proposal, which was first reported earlier this year by the Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, would cap A grades to 20% of students in a course, with an allowance for four additional As. It also would introduce a new internal “average percentile rank” system, which would rely on raw scores rather than grade point average (GPA) to determine honors and awards.

If approved, the policy would take effect in fall 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The proposed cap has faced criticism from students, including those on the Crimson’s editorial board, which claimed it “falls flat” in trying to resolve concerns over grading.