Why Hundreds at Harvard Will No Longer Have A’s

In a recent post, we asked, “How Harvard Could Cure Grade Inflation.” Yesterday, a faculty vote provided some answers.

Harvard’s Inflation Solution

The Decision

Through a faculty vote of 458 to 201, starting during the Fall of 2027, Harvard will limit the number of A’s that instructors can give students. Applying only to undergraduates, the number of A’s per course was capped at 20%. However, smaller sections could add an extra 4.

Responding, the Dean of Undergraduate Education and students don’t agree. The Dean 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.” By contrast, polled students said the decision would elevate stress and reduce exploration.

The Impact

As a popular elective, Harvard’s Principles of Economics typically enrolls close to 800 students. I assume that means 600 will not get an A. But they can get A-‘s.

Our Bottom Line: Curing U.S. Inflation

Inflation caps don’t always work.

Concerned that the inflation rate had reached 5.8% in 1970, President Richard Nixon imposed wage and price controls. Beginning with a temporary freeze in 1971, the program selectively lifted and then reimposed controls until 1974. Described as a catastrophe by one historian, “Ranchers stopped shipping their cattle to the market, farmers drowned their chickens, and consumers emptied the shelves of supermarkets.”

And it never cured inflation.

Like a pressure cooker, inflation dropped during the controls and then skyrocketed to 11 percent when the lid was lifted. By 1980, it touched a high of 13.5%:

Rather than caps, it took soaring interest rates to control inflation. Rising to 21.5% at the end of 1980, the prime touched an historic high:

Students say that, like President Nixon’s policies, the cap is treating the symptoms. Instead, a real cure needs a new diagnosis. According to a recent report from the University of California, AI could be one cause.

My sources and more: Yesterday, WSJ explained how Harvard will reduce grade inflation while this Harvard Magazine had more detail. From there, we looked at this study from UC Berkeley that says AI is one cause of grade inflation.