On Friday, the faculty-led Subcommittee on Grading released a proposal to address grade inflation at Harvard College, which we examined in detail in Friday’s Special Edition. The plan isn’t perfect, but it meaningfully improves the incentives in the current grading system that the faculty describe as needing “better aligning of incentives with pedagogical goals.” That improvement is enough to be excited about where this could go.
To quickly recap, the proposal makes two core changes:
It caps flat-A grades at 20% of enrollment, plus up to four additional A’s per course, bringing the projected share of flat A’s down to roughly 34%.
It replaces GPA with Average Percentile Rank (APR) for determining Harvard’s awards and prizes, given the existing system can no longer distinguish top performers.
Together, these recommendations aim to realign incentives by encouraging both the supply of, and demand for, greater grade differentiation. The 20%+4 cap removes the option of universal flat A’s; by tying honors to relative performance, students have a reason to value real grade distinction.
That shift matters because the status quo is no longer workable. Today, so many students graduate with a 4.0 that summa cum laude can hinge on differences as small as five hundredths of a decimal place. The College’s prize for the student graduating summa with the highest GPA went from from a single recipient in 2010 to 55 recipients in 2025. Faculty describe a “fragile” grading system where “the results are not only unreliable but unjust, and continuing to use GPA as the primary metric for comparing students’ academic performance is no longer defensible.”
In the days since the proposal’s release, reasonable concerns have surfaced: Is a simulated outcome of 34% A grades still too high? Why doesn’t APR explicitly account for course difficulty? Do you round up in A cap when 20%+4 is not a whole number? What about edge cases or student opposition reflected in a poll published today? These are valid questions, especially given how often grading reforms at other schools have failed.
But these concerns shouldn’t obscure the larger point: the proposal improves on what exists today.
APR may not capture every nuance, but it introduces far more differentiation than GPA currently allows. Some students may still try to game the system, but the proposal changes the tradeoffs in ways the status quo does not. Its direction is right even if every detail isn’t fully resolved.
That’s what to expect from a faculty proposal at this stage: a recommended direction, with refinements to follow through deliberation and, ultimately, implementation.
Right now, the FAS Faculty Council needs to decide whether to move the proposal to an FAS-wide vote. At this stage, a more practical standard makes sense: does this move the system in the right direction?
On that test, this proposal succeeds.
Ask 1636
Send us your Harvard and higher education questions!
Q: Can you elaborate on how APR works across different class sizes? For example, what impact on your APR does earning an A in a large lecture versus in a small seminar?
Average Percentile Rank (APR) is designed so class size isn’t an easy way to optimize outcomes. In a large lecture of 100 students, up to 24 could earn A’s; a student who earns an A (or even a high A-) could still place in the top quarter or third of the class, resulting in a strong APR by outperforming many peers. In a small seminar of 5 or 10 students, it’s possible that most or even all students earn flat A’s. However, APR still ranks students relative to one another, so an A earned at the bottom of the class could translate into a much lower percentile rank. The trade-off is intentional: small classes offer more A’s, while larger classes offer finer-grained ranking across more peers. In both cases students are incentivized not just to earn an A, but to perform better than classmates.
Events
San Francisco, CA — February 10 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. ET: HBS and the HBS Association of Northern California are hosting a reception for recent alumni (MBA 2016-2026) with Kristen Fitzpatrick (MBA ‘03), Senior Managing Director of Alumni Relations & Career and Professional Development. Register here.
Virtual & Boston, MA — February 12 from 6:45-7:45 p.m. ET: HBS Executive Dean for Administration Angela Crispi will present “The Business of Harvard Business School” a behind-the-scenes look for alumni at how HBS is navigating change in higher education, technology, and its own campus footprint. Register here.
Virtual & Cambridge, MA — February 18 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. ET: Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is hosting a conversation between Harvard Government professor Michael Sandel and HGSE Dean Nonie Lesaux to discuss meritocracy, education, and democracy — themes in Sandel’s new book The Tyranny of Merit and Democracy’s Discontent. Register here.
Cambridge, MA — February 25 from 6:00-8:30 p.m. ET: Meet Harvard Kennedy School dean Jeremy Weinstein (PhD ’03) at this HKS on the Road series event. Prior to Weinstein’s talk, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and HKS Professor Meghan O’Sullivan will be discussing nuclear policy. Register here.
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FYIs
White House Now Seeking $1 Billion in Damages from Harvard
In December, NYT had reported on correspondence between Harvard and the White House in which Education Secretary Linda McMahon proposed a $300 million workforce initiative plus a $200 million fine. Harvard countered with a $500 million investment in workforce development and no cash payment.
In his Truth Social post, President Trump wrote that “Strongly Antisemitic Harvard University has been feeding a lot of ‘nonsense’ to The Failing New York Times” and called Harvard’s workforce development proposal “a convoluted job training concept” that was “merely a way of Harvard getting out of a large cash settlement of more than 500 Million Dollars.” He added: “We . . . want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University.”
The University is still litigating two lawsuits in the First Circuit Court of Appeals related to frozen federal research funds and international student enrollment. It also faces ongoing federal investigations, including probes into patent and foreign gift disclosures and potential Title VII hiring violations.
Harvard Launches $100 Million Challenge To Fund PhD Fellowships After Securing $50 Million in Alumni Gifts
Harvard launched a $100 million challenge to fund new PhD fellowships after securing $50 million in alumni commitments. The Research Accelerator Challenge aims to endow 50 fellowships by June 30 to support graduate students across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
This Challenge was enabled by a lead gift from Alfred Lin (AB ‘94) and Rebecca Lin (AB ’94), with support from Rui Dong (AB ’05) & Thor Johnson, and Brian Young (AB ’76) & Anne Young. Their gifts will match future contributions toward the $100 million goal.
The donor-backed effort follows FAS’s Fall 2025 move to cut PhD admissions in half amidst financial pressures including a $350 million structural deficit, a $350+ million annual endowment tax, and uncertainty over future federal research funding.
Dept. of War Cuts Academic Ties With Harvard Over “American Values” Concerns
The Department of War (formerly known as the Department of Defense) announced Friday that it will sever academic ties with Harvard starting in the 2026-27 academic year, discontinuing graduate-level military education, fellowship, and certificate programs.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (MPA ’13) cited the University’s alleged hostility toward the military, partnerships with institutions in China, and campus antisemitism, arguing the school no longer reflects “American values and interests” and “too many of our officers came back” with “globalist and radical ideologies.”
The decision will not affect current enrollees. According to The Crimson, it’s unclear how many current students are affected. Hegseth also noted other Ivy League schools could face similar scrutiny.
HKS Professor Maya Sen (AB ‘00, AM ‘11, PhD ‘12) commented online: “This is a shame- I teach some of these students at the Kennedy School. They take classes on the constitution, federalism, free market economics - the very topics conservatives say they want taught.”
College Dean Deming Talks AI, Endowment Tax, Grade Inflation, and Institutional Neutrality at Open Forum
At an open forum in Lowell House, College Dean David Deming (PhD ‘10) addressed student concerns on issues ranging from AI in the classroom and grade deflation to budget cuts stemming from the federal endowment tax and upcoming changes to hazing policy:
Deming rejected the idea that AI undermines the value of a Harvard education, saying rapid change makes a liberal arts foundation “more important.”
On finances, he highlighted bipartisan scrutiny of elite universities, noting that a Democratic-led state effort to tax Harvard’s endowment was followed by an 8% federal levy from Congress. “We can’t just ride this out,” he said, stressing the need for a Harvard education to demonstrate public value. Economics Professor David Laibson (AB ‘88) added the tax created “a $100 million hole in Harvard’s budget — just for the FAS.”
Days before the faculty-led proposal to curb the College’s grade inflation was released, Deming defended the College’s initiative to recenter academics. “You may not think this is in your interest, but I promise you it is,” he told students.
On calls for Harvard to speak out about the conflict in Gaza, Deming maintained such issues are beyond his role. When students raised his prior comments after Charlie Kirk’s death, he said he had been offering support to students grieving Kirk’s death “in a personal sense,” but some attendees questioned the inconsistency.
More News
More News at Harvard
The Crimson: “Harvard ID Access Restrictions Go Unenforced in Many FAS Academic Buildings”
CAMERA: “Statement on Harvard Medical School-Affiliated Panel” — by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) and the American Jewish Medical Association (AJMA)
Constructive Dialogue Institute: “What Campus Culture Change Actually Looks Like” — feat. Harvard’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative
The Crimson: “Harvard Set to Begin Enforcing Tutor Eligibility Requirements, Crack Down on Unaffiliated House Tutors”
The Crimson: “Harvard Medical School Instructor Appointed Chair of National Autism Committee”
The Crimson: “Office of Culture and Community Awards New Grant to Seven Projects”
The Crimson: “Harvard GSAS Student Council President Proposes Member Stipends to Boost Engagement”
New York Times: “These Mathematicians Are Putting A.I. to the Test” — feat. Harvard Math professor Lauren Williams (AB ‘00)
The Crimson: “Gen Eds Need To Get Smaller” — op-ed by Gavriela Kalish-Schur (AB ’28)
The Crimson: “Who’s Afraid of Grading?” — op-ed by Andrés Muedano (AB ’27)
The Crimson: “HUPD Has a Chance To Change” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “How AI Undermines Harvard’s Grading Reform” — op-ed by Catherine Previn (AB ‘27)
The Crimson: “For Education’s Sake, Time Caps Must Go” — op-ed by Serena Liu (AB ‘28)
The Crimson: “Plagiarize or Perish” — op-ed by Matthew Tobin (AB ‘27)
More News Beyond Harvard
Higher Ed Dive: “Trump signs $79B education funding bill into law”
Columbia University: “Statement from the University on Recent Off-Campus Antisemitic Harassment”
The Dartmouth: “A look at new collaborations between Dartmouth and Israeli institutions” — feat. Kalaniyot, which also has chapters at Harvard Medical School and MIT
Princeton: “President Eisgruber's State of the University letter, 2026”
Bloomberg: “Princeton Warns Budget Under Strain From Politics, Soft Returns”
Yale Daily News: “New aid guarantees bring Yale closer to peer schools amid cost-cutting”
Yale Daily News: “YCC Senate proposal urges Yale to assess UAE ties amid Sudan civil war”
Higher Ed Dive: “Duke’s budget and employee cuts called into question by audit”
U.S. Department of Education: “U.S. Department of Education Issues Proposed Rule to Make Higher Education More Affordable and Simplify Student Loan Repayment”
The Point Magazine: “The Left Case for Great Books”
Knowledge at Wharton (Penn): “Can Classroom Cell Phone Bans Boost Grades?”
The Crimson: “UT Researcher Warns Grade Inflation Hurts Students’ Long-Term Academic and Career Outcomes”
Chronicle of Higher Education: “Can an AI Tool Help Students Disagree Better?”
New York Times: “Colleges See Major Racial Shifts in Student Enrollment”
New York Times: “Students Are Skipping the Hardest Part of Growing Up” — op-ed by Clay Shirky, vice provost at New York University
Australian Finance Review: “How elite college finance clubs pave the way to Wall Street”
Washington Post: “College deans aren’t protected by academic freedom” — op-ed by Manhattan Institute director of constitutional studies Ilya Shapiro and South Texas College of Law Houston constitutional law professor Josh Blackman
New York Times: “What if the Valedictorians in America’s Schools Were the Cool Kids?” — op-ed by Nicholas Kristof (AB ‘81)
AEI: “What Campus Climate Surveys Actually Tell Us About Antisemitism” — by Samuel Abrams (PhD ‘10)