Featured Article: “Harvard College’s Grading System Is ‘Failing,’ Report on Grade Inflation Says”

I am thrilled to be back as your regular correspondent after a restful maternity leave! My husband and I welcomed another son, and saying we’re over the moon is an understatement—especially for our firstborn, who is thrilled to be a big brother and is loving every moment with the baby.
 

Time may have slowed down for me over the past eight weeks, but the news cycle certainly did not. Last week, one particular story caught our attention. On October 27, Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Education released a 25-page report showing that over 60 percent of student grades are now A’s—up from just a quarter two decades ago. Grade inflation has long plagued higher education, even at the Ivy level, but Harvard’s new report may signal that more institutions are beginning to recognize the problem. Especially as the Trump administration continues to crack down on higher education with its latest reform effort originally offered to nine American universities—including Harvard University—called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
 

But first, Harvard’s grade inflation report. 
 

In the report, Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh did not hold back in her frank assessment of the university: “Our grading is too compressed and too inflated, as nearly all faculty recognize; it is also too inconsistent, as students have observed,” she stated. “More importantly, our grading no longer performs its primary functions and is undermining our academic mission.” 
 

To her credit, Claybaugh raised concerns over Harvard’s grade inflation problem for several years. Harvard Crimson staff writers Samuel A. Church and Cam N. Srivastava report that two years ago, Claybaugh presented a different report calling attention to skyrocketing undergraduate GPAs, and in January, a Faculty of Arts and Science committee released a report finding that “undergraduates frequently prioritize other commitments over their classes.” This seems contradictory to the fact that more students are receiving A’s than ever before—effort is correlated with reward, but apparently, that's not the case in higher education. The latest report reveals a startling statistic. In just ten years, Harvard’s median class grade point average went from 3.64 at graduation to the class of 2025’s  median average of 3.83. Also notable is that since the 2016–17 academic year “the median Harvard College GPA has been an A.”
 

Reactions to the report were mixed, to say the least. National Review writer Jeffrey Blehar quips that Harvard students “are rending their garments at the mere threat of being required to attend class and study.” Responding to the report, one student said when interviewed for a Harvard Crimson article, “What makes a Harvard student a Harvard student is their engagement in extracurriculars. Now we have to throw that all away and pursue just academics. I believe that attacks the very notion of what Harvard is.” The quotes offered up by students are telling of the deeper issues grade inflation causes. 
 

The problem of grade inflation is not merely a post-COVID-19 phenomenon, nor specific to Harvard University. GPAs have been steadily rising over the past twenty years, and even during and post-COVID-19, the trend of grade inflation has kept on at a steady pace. Harvard’s counterpart Yale University has an overabundance of A’s to be found in student report cards as well, with a 2023 report finding that nearly 80 percent of all grades given to undergraduates were in the A range. While it may be “easier” for professors to dole out A's, it is a disservice to students in the long run. Last year, Megan Maldonado, an Ivy League professor, wrote an article for Minding the Campus describing her experience with grade inflation, pinpointing a key problem that stems from the practice,
 

In sum, college degrees have become increasingly less attractive to employers, and even graduates with high GPAs—whom we might expect to defy this negative hiring trend—are advised to downplay their grades in order to become more hirable. Grade inflation, in general, hinders students from becoming competitive professional applicants or at least coming across as such.  

Not only is grade inflation harmful to the credibility of an institution, it hinders the professional success of students post graduation and it inadvertently discourages a genuine understanding of important topics while in school, leaving a gap in education.
 

So, is there a solution? 
 

For Harvard, Claybaugh did recommend a few ways to combat grade inflation, including for professors to clearly communicate the work quality needed to receive a particular grade; standardizing grading between different sections of the same course; implementing in person sit-down exams; along with other ideas. All of which would make a vast difference in deflating the grade balloon at the university, and would work at other institutions facing the same crisis.  
 

Restoring high academic standards and fixing grade inflation are issues the National Association of Scholars have long advocated for, especially as colleges and universities have refused to acknowledge their own part in fostering these problems. Even now, as mentioned above, others are joining the call for higher education to fix the grade inflation bubble before it pops. Like the Trump administration’s Compact which encouraged Harvard and the eight other institutions to reflect on grade inflation and commit to not inflating or deflating grades for any non-academic reason, “but only rigorously reflect the demonstrated mastery of a subject that the grade purports to represent.” 
 

Given Harvard’s staunch defiance of reform in recent days, including its rejection of the Compact, it is somewhat surprising that the institution is self-reflecting on its grade inflation problem. Perhaps Harvard is seeking to signal its willingness to reform, but can’t be seen following federal diktats. Hopefully the university’s latest report is an indicator that the institution is now aware and willing to change its ways internally, at least regarding this particular issue. And while we would like this to be the case—I won’t hold my breath.
 

Until next week.

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