College Grade Erosion

In January of this year, I wrote an article titled “Hiring From Elite Colleges & Universities Only.” In that article I wrote, “more than 70% of students at some of the most “elite” schools, receive nothing lower than A’s & B’s.”

Over the past few months, there have been a number of articles written and published, on the internet, discussing “grade erosion” at our colleges and universities, during the past few decades. In essence, “grade inflation.”

On Thursday of last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Harvard Votes to Cap A’s in Effort to Curb Grade Inflation,” by Roshan Fernandez.

In essence, during the 2024-25 school year, approximately 60% of all grades at Harvard were A’s. This was an increase from 25% in the 2005-2006 school year.

As a result, the administration and faculty, have voted to put a cap on the number of A’s that a professor can award in his or her class, to 20% of the number of students that are in the class, plus 4. In essence, if there were 40 students in the class, the number of A’s would be limited to 12 (8+4).

This only applies to undergraduate courses. 70% of the faculty votes were in favor of this limitation.

The Dean of the Undergraduate Education College, Amanda Claybaugh, said “this vote is an important step toward ensuring that our grading system better serves its central purposes: giving students meaningful feedback, recognizing genuine distinction, and sustaining the academic mission of the College.”

But does it? Students are certainly not in favor. A student poll indicated that over 70% were against this cap. They stated that “ a cap treats the symptoms of grade inflation rather than the root cause.”

I must agree with them. I am certain that there is enough blame to go around. Are the professors being diligent in their duties? Are the parents also at fault, for endorsing their children getting extra time for taking exams. Many parents have hired consultants, to determine that their sons or daughters are suffering from depression or anxiety, and need extra time.

In many colleges and universities it has been said that as many as 20% of the student body have been determined to need the extra time. This is at elite schools such as Stanford and Harvard.

The University of California, Berkeley found that artificial intelligence (AI) is contributing to the grade-inflation issue. Professor’s teaching AI courses have been giving 30% more A’s than other courses.

A paper published by Missouri Medicine, indicated that the average GPA in 1950, at Harvard was 2.6 out of 4, or a little better than a C+. In 2003, it was 3.4 and in 2025 it was 3.8 , or a B++ or A-, depending on how you viewed it.

This is not just a Harvard issue. The National Center for Education Statistics has stated that the average college GPA in 2020 was 3.15. An increase from 2.81, in 1990.

Many believe that the same grade inflation is occurring in high schools across the country.

I don’t believe that limiting the number of A’s is the answer. It is obvious that there isn’t a simple answer. Responsibility for ones actions start with parents, include their children, and finally their teachers. What has happened to “academic rigor?”

I have experienced both full time professors, as well as part- time professors. My part- time professors were individuals who worked in the field that they taught. I must admit, I learned more from those that were part-time. There were no caps on grades. Your grade was based upon your work, regardless of who your parents were, or any outside influence. There were no “special considerations” given. All were on an equal footing.

Will we ever see that again? I really don’t know. However, change from the current system is required. We can hope that “cooler” heads will prevail in the future.

Jess Sweely

Madison, VA

May 24, 2026