Harvard’s New Grade Policy: A Step Toward Educational Improvement

In a recent decision, Harvard University faculty implemented a cap on the number of full A grades awarded in courses. This rule, known as the ’20 plus four’ formula, allows only about 20 percent of students in any given course to earn a full A. It also permits four additional students, a concession designed for small, advanced seminars that tend to be more collaborative.

The challenge now is not simply imposing this cap but ensuring it enhances the educational experience. Easy A’s present multiple issues: they reduce motivation for learning, diminish the value of exceptional performances, and paradoxically increase pressure by inflating grade-point averages. For instance, at Harvard, even a couple of A-minuses can prevent students from graduating summa cum laude.

Over the seven years of teaching Harvard’s introductory economics class, EC 10, more than 49 percent of our students earned full A’s. This is lower than the university’s average where 60 percent of full A’s were awarded in the 2024-2025 academic year. Though all the top-performing students excelled in EC 10, not all represented the ‘extraordinary distinction’ a full A is supposed to signify according to the student handbook.

Many faculty, including ourselves, struggled with grading rigorously due to concerns that honest grading could disadvantage students or deter them from pursuing our field. This issue is a classic example of a collective-action problem, a topic we address in EC 10. It’s similar to scenarios where individual actions harm communal resources, such as overfishing or pollution. The pressure to maintain high grades is especially intense for junior faculty, who worry about negative course evaluations affecting enrollment and tenure chances. This fear contributed to grade inflation, where grades are not only high but consistently escalating.

While several deans urged faculty to curb the distribution of A’s, substantial progress required a collective commitment. When personal incentives conflict with societal benefits, the sustainable solution often involves a system that aligns individual actions with the common good—a concept we similarly explore in EC 10.