Each year, the undergraduate college at Harvard awards the Sophia Freund Prize to the graduating senior with the highest GPA. For decades, the prize went to one student, sometimes two if there was a tie. In 2025, there was a 55-way tie. The top students all had a perfect GPA. Hundreds more were nearly perfect. Last year, flat A's accounted for 66 percent of grades. A's and A''s accounted for 84 percent. In Harvard's Student Handbook, an A represents 'extraordinary distinction''an assessment that makes no sense if it applies to two-thirds of students. To restore meaning to student transcripts, Harvard's grading committee, of which I am a member, has proposed capping all flat A grades to around 33 percent across undergraduate courses. Our recommendation follows a three-year investigation by Amanda Claybaugh, the dean of undergraduate education at Harvard, that found that the school's current grading system is 'damaging the academic culture of the College.' Grade inflation is about...
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