Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779324615984Screen Shot 2026-05-21 at 7.37.48 AM (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Harvard banners in front Widener Library during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2025. US President Donald Trump on June 4, 2025 announced a ban on visas for foreign students who are set to begin attending Harvard University, ramping up his administration&#x27;s crackdown on higher education. <em>Rick Friedman, AFP/File</em><br/></span></span></span></div><p>NEW YORK, United States — Harvard announced Wednesday it will limit how many top marks professors can give undergraduate students, moving to fight grade inflation at one of America&#x27;s most storied universities.</p><p>Grade inflation is a problem across American higher education, amid worries that an A, meant to reward outstanding work, loses meaning if most students get one as a matter of course.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/07/22/22/up-urged-to-probe-grade-hyperinflation">UP urged to probe grade ‘hyperinflation&#x27; amid record number of Latin honors</a></div><p>With this kind of inflation, A grades say less to employers and graduate school admissions officers as indicators that a student is an appealing prospect.</p><p>The new grading system -- voted on by professors in recent days and announced Wednesday -- works like this: in a given course a teacher can award an A to no more than 20 percent of the students, with an allowance for up to four extra A&#x27;s.</p><p>There is no limit to scores of A minus or lower in the new system, which is scheduled to take effect in the academic year starting in the autumn of 2027, Harvard said.</p><p>Faculty members voted 458 to 201 to use the new grading scheme.</p><p>In the 2024-2025 academic year about two thirds of the grades handed out to undergraduates at Harvard were A&#x27;s, according to the student handbook.</p><p>This new system will bring that ratio down to 2010 levels, when a third of grades were A&#x27;s, the Harvard Gazette student newspaper reported.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/public-service/2025/3/16/harvard-university-offers-122-free-online-courses-1049">Harvard University offers 122 free online courses</a></div><p>Faculty members released a statement welcoming the change.</p><p>&quot;This matters for our students above all. A Harvard A grade will now tell them, as well as employers and graduate schools, something real about what a student has achieved,&quot; the statement said.</p><p>But students do not like the idea, with 85 percent saying they oppose the new system in a poll carried out in February, according to the newspaper.</p><p>&quot;This is a consequential vote,&quot; said Amanda Claybaugh, the dean of undergraduate education.</p><p>&quot;It will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard; it will also, I hope, encourage other institutions to confront similar questions with the same level of rigor and courage.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/7/pentagon-to-cut-academic-ties-with-harvard-1453">Pentagon to cut academic ties with Harvard</a></div><p>Other top American universities, such as Princeton and Cornell, have also tried to tackle grade inflation in the past but in some cases gave up amid opposition to such a reform.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vkt7g40THvo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Harvard announced Wednesday it will limit how many top marks professors can give undergraduate students, moving to fight grade inflation at one of America's most storied universities.</p>

Harvard announced Wednesday it will limit how many top marks professors can give undergraduate students, moving to fight grade inflation at one of America's most storied universities.

Harvard announces reform to fight grade inflation

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

World

Harvard announces reform to fight grade inflation

Agence France-Presse

Published May 21, 2026 08:52 AM PHT

Read More:

New York

United States

US

Education

Harvard

Agence France-Presse

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.