Harvard College says it’s “recentering academics.” It also just slashed PhD admissions by roughly 400 students — so sharply that the College may soon be missing the engine behind its day-to-day teaching model.
In October, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) announced deep reductions in PhD admissions for the next two cycles: cuts by 60% in the Arts & Humanities, 60% in the Social Sciences, and 75% in the Sciences (later revised to 50%). The cuts come amid the $350 million structural (recurring annual) FAS deficit and federal funding uncertainty.
A week later, the Office of Undergraduate Education published a report on the College’s grade inflation problem. Flat A’s now make up 60% of College grades (up from 24% in 2005), and the Class of 2025 averaged a 3.8 GPA. The report also pointed to inconsistencies in grading, even within single courses.
Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh’s recommended remedies were sensible, and labor-intensive: shared departmental standards, better communication across courses, and more consistent grading across multi-section classes led by PhD Teaching Fellows (TFs).
That's the tension. Harvard is describing a more rigorous, more coordinated academic approach at the same moment it's shrinking the graduate workforce that helps make coordination possible.
In yesterday’s Special Edition, we examined what these PhD cuts actually save and found that even in the worst-case scenario, the financial return is limited. Meanwhile, the academic risks are substantial: weaker labs, reduced research output, and fewer PhDs to support undergraduate teaching. Today’s question digs deeper into that last risk: how does Harvard deliver a more rigorous College education with fewer TFs?
What replaces TF labor?
The math isn’t subtle. By our published estimate, Harvard will need to backfill about 2,200 sections to maintain its current student-to-teacher ratios (full modeling assumptions here).
Harvard has options. None are that crazy. All have tradeoffs:
Make existing PhDs teach more. Increasing PhD candidates’ mandatory teaching requirements is the most direct fix, but that eats into their research time, risks on-time degree completion, increases Harvard’s own tuition costs per student, and makes Harvard less attractive to top applicants choosing among peer programs.
Hire instructors from outside Harvard. Some departments are already exploring this (e.g., the Economics department may hire from the Boston Federal Reserve; Philosophy is considering hiring MIT philosophy students). That may be part of the answer, but it can become a patchwork system with uneven preparation and inconsistent norms — the opposite of what "grading consistency" requires. (One student wrote in their course evaluation of the externally-staffed Taylor Swift English course: “I literally heard a TF say during lecture once ‘I haven’t written an English paper since high school.’”)
Have faculty teach more sections. Philosophy professor Edward Hall, who leads his department’s undergraduate studies, expects faculty may need to step in and teach sections themselves. More teaching time means less time for research, mentorship, and course design. Even still, this could be a genuine upgrade: more professor-led sections and clearer, more consistent academic standards. But it only works if Harvard treats teaching as a real institutional priority, with workload, incentives, and support to match.
Run fewer sections. In some courses like labs with safety constraints, the number of students per section can’t simply be increased. If departments don’t have enough TFs, they may be forced to cut back on the total number of sections offered. That means fewer seats overall, especially in large introductory or required courses students need to progress in their concentrations.
These aren’t hypothetical concerns. When PhD admissions shrank during COVID, departments struggled to staff sections. A flagship Economics course had just one TF for the entire class. Government 50 had to shift to a hybrid model with undergraduate course assistants leading sections. Those workarounds can keep a course afloat, but they don't reliably deliver the consistency and feedback a serious "recentering academics" push requires.
Harvard is right to take academic rigor at the College seriously, but actions speak louder than words. The College says it wants more rigorous standards and stronger section coordination, but it hasn’t explained how that happens with fewer PhD students. If FAS wants to raise academic expectations, it needs to be equally serious about sustaining the College teaching model that makes those expectations possible.
Ask 1636
Send us your Harvard and higher education questions!
Q: If Harvard gets the same level of federal funding as in the past, how many administrative roles could it not backfill to save the same amount as PhD cuts?
With ~21% of total FAS PhD student aid funding in 2022 coming from federal sources, we estimate this would cover ~55% of all Science PhD student aid. If funding continued at this level, we estimate Harvard would only save ~$27 million over the seven years of reduced PhDs. This could be achieved by temporarily not backfilling 34 administrators during that period, or by not backfilling 9 roles permanently. (See our full PhD cuts Special Edition and prior modeling assumptions for more detail).
Events
Boston, MA — December 5 from 7:30-9:00 p.m. ET: The Harvard College Union Society, a debating society focused on promoting intellectual vitality, is hosting a debate on whether Harvard remains a beacon of academic excellence. Register here.
Boston, MA — December 6 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET: The Harvard Club of Boston is hosting Harvard’s 45th Saturday of Symposia, featuring School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean David Parkes and talks from Harvard faculty members conducting research fields. Register here.
Virtual — December 11 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET: The Harvard Business School Jewish Alumni Association (HBSJAA) is hosting a Zoom conversation for members on the campus climate for the Jewish community. Panelists include Exec. Director of MBA & Doctoral Programs Jana Kierstead; Sr. Lecturer and Associate Dean for Culture & Community Kristin Mugford; Unit Head for Organizational Behavior and Co-Chair of the HBS Antisemitism Working Group Joshua Margolis; and Chair of MBA Required Curriculum Mitch Weiss. Register here.
Washington, D.C. — December 12 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. ET: Join HKS Dean Jeremy Weinstein for breakfast and a discussion on how the school is supporting its community amid shifts in the public sector. Register here.
Virtual — January 14 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. PT: The Harvard Club of Seattle is hosting a conversation with Sarah Karmon, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association, who will provide an update on current issues, challenges, and successes at Harvard. Register here.
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FYIs
GOP Strategist and Democratic Diplomat Named as Interim IOP Co-Directors
Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) named Republican strategist Beth Myers and Democratic diplomat Ned Price (MPA ‘10) as interim co-directors of its Institute of Politics (IOP), following the death of former director Setti Warren in October.
Myers served as Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s chief of staff and as his 2008 presidential campaign manager. She has held several prior IOP roles, including interim director of the JFK Jr. Forum.
Price, a former State Department spokesperson and deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under President Biden, is a current IOP fellow. He previously worked in the CIA and co-founded a think tank promoting “foreign policy that responsibly safeguards our security, economy, and democracy while pursuing a principled vision for the world.”
The bipartisan pairing was chosen to reflect the IOP’s stated commitment to ideological diversity and build on Warren’s legacy as a “bridge builder,” including by expanding opportunities for conservative students.
Harvard Hired Divinity School Alum Charged in HBS Assault Case as Instructor; Judge Dismisses Related Antisemitism Lawsuit Against Harvard
This fall, Harvard hired Elom Tettey-Tamaklo (MTS ’25) as a Teaching Assistant (TA) after he graduated from HDS. He is one of the individuals charged with assaulting Yoav Segev (MBA ‘25) during an October 2023 protest. Such roles are typically filled by current Harvard-enrolled graduate students; TAs are a rarer, externally-hired version of TFs. It has not been reported if Tettey-Tamaklo will be employed by Harvard again in the spring.
Segev alleged Harvard failed to discipline his assailants, obstructed investigations, removed an HUPD officer pursuing the case, delayed disciplinary proceedings, and “blacklisted” Jewish students from an HBS event. He also accused Harvard of creating a sham investigative process under former president Claudine Gay.
Stearns ruled that Segev’s complaint didn’t meet the legal bar for “severe and pervasive” harassment under a deliberate indifference claim. While not condoning the assault, he wrote that “nothing in the Amended Complaint plausibly establishes that any institutional mistreatment Segev may have experienced was motivated by antisemitism.”
Stearns previously oversaw the Students Against Antisemitism and Shabbos Kestenbaum (MTS ‘24) lawsuits against Harvard, each settled earlier this year.
ICE Arrests HLS Visiting Professor After Pellet Rifle Case Near Synagogue
Federal immigration authorities arrested Harvard Law School visiting Brazilian professor Carlos Gouvea (SJD ‘08) this week after the State Department revoked his J-1 visa. After his arrest, Gouvea voluntarily departed the U.S. rather than be deported, according to DHS.
This follows an October incident in which he fired a pellet gun outside a Brookline synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur. Gouvea told police he was “hunting rats” and was “unaware that he lived next to” a synagogue or that it was a religious holiday. Synagogue leaders wrote in an email that the event “does not appear to have been fueled by antisemitism.”
Gouvea was charged in Brookline District Court with a felony of vandalism and three misdemeanors. He initially pleaded not guilty; three charges were later dropped as part of a November plea deal.
FIRE Poll Finds 91% of College Students Say “Words Can Be Violence” After Charlie Kirk Killing
Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) conducted a new national poll to clarify how students view the relationship between speech and violence.
The survey of 2,000+ undergrads found 91% of students said “words can be violence.” Half reported feeling less safe attending or hosting controversial campus events since Kirk’s death.
FIRE’s new findings also show growing polarization. Since Kirk’s death, moderate and conservative students have become less supportive of disruptive tactics, while liberal students’ support for shouting down speakers or blocking entry remained steady or increased.
In a recent Harvard undergraduate-conducted poll of young Americans nationwide, nearly 40% responded that political violence is acceptable under certain circumstances.
Northwestern Settles With the Federal Government for $75 Million, Will Reverse Agreement With Encampment Protesters
Last Friday, Northwestern reached a $75 million agreement with the Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services to end federal investigations and regain access to $790 million in research funding. It is the sixth university to do so, after Columbia, Brown, Penn, UVA, and Cornell.
As part of the agreement, Northwestern will:
Pay a $75 million “settlement fee” directly to the government. This is less than Columbia’s $200 million, and more than Cornell and Brown’s $50 and $60 million. Northwestern’s payment doesn’t include a workforce development component (Brown and Cornell’s did).
Rescind the 2024 “Deering Meadow” agreement, which it signed with protestors to end their encampment on campus. Deering Meadow included funding for two visiting Palestinian professors, five scholarships for Palestinian students, and a new space for Middle Eastern, North African, and Muslim students.
“Deering Meadow” also reestablished an “Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility,” in which students, faculty and staff could discuss divestment from Israel with the school’s endowment investment committee. Northwestern has indicated the Committee will continue because it was “established well before” the agreement.
Not pursue “race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets, or similar efforts.”
Provide the government admissions data by race, GPA, and standardized test score. Northwestern must also report data on harassment complaints, including antisemitism, to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Northwestern’s president (or interim president) and chair of the board of trustees must personally certify under penalty of perjury each quarter that the university is in compliance.
More News
More News at Harvard
New York Times: “Why Trump and Harvard Have Not Reached a Deal”
The Crimson: “Harvard Is Rejecting More Tenure Cases After Departments Approve Them”
The Crimson: “Harvard FAS Plans To Move Offices Out of Rented Space To Reduce Costs”
The Crimson: “Federal Cuts Force Harvard Programs To Suspend Language Study Fellowships”
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Hiring Freeze Isn’t Thawing, but There Are Cracks in the Ice”
The Crimson: “As Trump Dismantles the Education Department, What’s Next for Its Investigations Into Harvard?”
Center for Jewish Studies: “Celebrating the Littauer Centennial & Jewish Studies at Harvard”
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Grad Student Leaders Eye Pay Packages at Peer Schools’ Student Councils”
Wall Street Journal: “Harvard’s Big Wager on Bitcoin Came Right Before the Bust”
Education Sciences: “Intellectual and Viewpoint Diversity: Importance, Scope and Bounds” — by School of Public Health professor Tyler VanderWeele (PhD ‘06)
The Crimson: “What’s the Point of a Survey Without Results?” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Plan to Freeze Custodian Wages is Cruelly Hypocritical” — op-ed by Charlie Covit (AB ’27)
The Boston Globe: “What made Harvard get softer on its students” — op-ed by Tommy Barone (AB ‘25)
Wall Street Journal: “Epstein and the Larry Summers Example” — editorial by the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
National Post: “Peter MacKinnon: Harvard eschews ingrained ideology in order to tackle 'genuinely hard problems'” — op-ed by Peter MacKinnon, former president of the University of Saskatchewan, Athabasca University, and Dalhousie University
More News Beyond Harvard
The Atlantic: “Colleges Are Preparing to Self-Lobotomize” (gift link)
Yale Daily News: “Layoffs may come as Yale seeks to shrink staff amid budget cuts”
Chicago Maroon: “UChicago Budget Deficit Slashed by Nearly Half This Year, Leaving $160 Million Shortfall”
Franklin’s Forum: “Jewish Life at Penn: Insights from the 2025 Undergraduate Survey”
The Stanford Review: “INVESTIGATION: Stanford Earth Sciences Chair Collaborates with China's Nuclear Program”
Buckley Institute: “A Report On Faculty Political Diversity” — from Yale’s Buckley Institute, whose mission is “to promote intellectual diversity and freedom of speech at Yale University.”
The Stanford Review: “The Long Game: Stanford Endowment CEO Robert Wallace on Discipline, Diversification, and Daring Greatly”
Stanford Daily: “Three student protesters seek plea deals, five proceed to trial”
Duke Chronicle: “Duke has sought to tighten faculty media engagement to minimize federal scrutiny”
Call Me Back: “Re-evaluating American Higher-Ed” — episode of Dan Senor’s (MBA ‘01) podcast feat. Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam (AB ‘01) and Cal State Long Beach political science professor Kevin Wallsten
The Atlantic: “Accommodation Nation” (gift link)Higher Ed Dive: “Chinese students fueled graduate program growth in US, study finds”
U.S. Department of Education: “U.S. Department of Education Announces New and Improved Portal for Universities to Report Foreign Funding”
U.S. Department of Education: “Myth vs. Fact: The Definition of Professional Degrees”
Heterodox Academy: “The New Landscape of “Civics Centers” in Higher Education”
American Economic Association: “Survey of hiring plans of U.S. Economics Departments”