Harvard Reports Over Half Undergraduate Grades Are A's, Cites Academic Culture Concerns

Harvard College is facing significant grade inflation, with about 60% of undergraduate grades now being A's, up from 40% a decade ago and less than 25% twenty years ago. The university's Office of Undergraduate Education report, authored by Dean Amanda Claybaugh, warns that this trend undermines academic culture and calls for faculty to restore grading integrity. Contributing factors include faculty concerns about being tougher than peers, administrative encouragement to consider students' personal challenges, and pressure from students for higher grades. The Trump administration has increased scrutiny on Harvard and other elite schools, urging them to commit to "grade integrity" and defensible evaluation standards. The median GPA has risen accordingly, and the cutoff for summa cum laude honors has increased. This issue reflects broader concerns about academic rigor and fairness in higher education institutions.