The new cap will be “broadly advertised, including interpretive text on transcripts,” according to the policy.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences on Tuesday wrapped up a vote to cap the number of A grades at 20 percent per course, plus or minus four A’s. The policy proposal, which faculty have deliberated over for months, passed in a 458-to-201 vote and will take effect in fall 2027.
The new cap will be “broadly advertised, including interpretive text on transcripts,” according to the policy. In addition to the A-grade cap, the faculty also passed a policy to use average percentile rank—students’ relative academic performance compared to their peers—rather than GPA to determine who should receive internal honors, prizes and awards like the Sophia Freund Prize. A student’s average percentile rank will not appear on their transcript.
The final proposal up for vote failed. Faculty were asked whether the new policy should allow faculty to petition the Office of Undergraduate Education to opt out of the A-grade limit for certain courses and use satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading designations instead.
