On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the Dean of Undergraduate Education at Harvard University encouraged professors to adjust the grading system starting from the fall semester of 2026. This change has caused some students to feel pressure and led them to reconsider their course selections.
According to Bloomberg, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University passed a new grading rule called “20%+4” in May. The rule mandates that starting from September 2027, there will be an upper limit on A grades, with no more than 20% of students in a class being allowed to receive an A grade in each undergraduate course. However, professors can award up to 4 additional A grades.
For example, in a class of 30 students, typically only 10 students could receive an A grade, and in a larger class of 100 students, a maximum of 24 students could get an A grade.
This policy, supported by 70% of faculty members, is seen as one of the strictest measures to curb grade inflation in American higher education over the past few decades. However, a survey conducted by the Harvard Undergraduate Association showed that the majority of students are against this policy.
Amanda Claybaugh, the Harvard College Dean of Undergraduate Education and an English professor, wrote to teachers in June suggesting that they start implementing the new grading upper limits in the upcoming fall semester.
She mentioned that introductory computer science, economics, and math courses would be subject to controlling the proportion of A grades in the new semester.
Claybaugh stated that the goal of the policy is not for professors to “hit the 20% cap plus 4 As as much as possible,” but to establish a grading standard that can differentiate students’ performance. In principle, less than 20% of students should meet the requirements for an A grade. The additional 4 slots can be flexibly used only when there is an exceptionally outstanding performance from the student body.
“Everyone wants an A because they believe it will help them get a job at McKinsey or Google,” Claybaugh said in an interview. “But if everyone can get an A, then the value of the A diminishes.”
“So, we actually have an obligation to clearly indicate to the outside world who our best students are,” she added. “We also have an obligation to provide students with very clear information so they understand their performance, their level, and their strengths.”
In the academic year ending in mid-2025, around 60% of undergraduate grades at Harvard were A grades, much higher than the 25% two decades prior. The institution believes that the excessively high ratio of A grades has weakened the function of grades in evaluating students’ academic performance.
Additionally, internal grading data reviewed by Bloomberg shows that from 2015 to 2025, the median proportion of A grades in humanities disciplines increased more than in social sciences and natural sciences disciplines.
Harvard’s fall semester is set to commence on September 2, with the course selection system reopening in late August. Some students may take the opportunity to change or adjust the courses they registered for a few months ago.
Some students are concerned that the new regulations will increase the difficulty of maintaining a high university grade point average (GPA) and affect their competitiveness in future job applications or applications to graduate schools or medical schools. Therefore, they are inclined to reduce their selection of new area courses that are more challenging and instead opt for familiar or perceived easier courses to achieve higher grades.
Courses with lower workloads and smaller seminar classes are expected to be more popular. For smaller classes, the “+4” provision may allow a higher proportion of students to attain A grades, making it a relatively favorable choice for students.
According to a report released in 2025 by a committee co-chaired by Harvard economics professor David Laibson, some undergraduate students admitted to choosing courses based on the level of difficulty rather than academic interest and tended to avoid challenging discussion-based courses. Teachers mentioned that some students frequently skipped classes or could not complete many assigned readings. However, students affected by extracurricular activities expect teachers to provide greater flexibility than before the COVID outbreak.
Teachers are also facing pressure from the new regulations. Particularly for non-tenured teachers, strict grading may reduce the number of students enrolling in their courses and lower the teaching evaluations given by students.
Laibson, who supports the educational reform, said, “Without a ceiling on grades, each teacher has an incentive to raise the grades in their class, for example, to increase student enrollment.”
However, Brian Myerholtz, the Global Talent Acquisition Director at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), revealed that some employers in certain industries only consider a student’s university GPA as one of many indicators of their job competency.
“Having all A grades won’t be a disadvantage for applicants, but we may look at other aspects, or ask about challenging situations you’ve encountered in interviews and what lessons you’ve learned from them,” Myerholtz said. “Perfection (in grades) is not our goal.”
Harvard University’s reforms may have an impact on other prestigious universities. It is reported that Columbia University, Dartmouth College, and Yale University are discussing or reviewing grading reforms. Princeton University currently does not have plans to reintroduce grade caps; the school had limited A grades for a decade before abandoning the policy in 2014. The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan, however, will adopt a “pass/fail” system for new students starting from the fall of 2027.