The share of A grades jumped by 13 percentage points, about 30 percent above the 2022 baseline. Average GPA rose by 0.12 points, and the grade distribution narrowed. A-minus and B-plus grades are getting bumped up to straight A's.
The study tracks grade trends across eight fall semesters (2018 through 2025) in 319 courses spanning 84 departments. Each course's AI exposure is measured by its assignment mix from the fall 2022 syllabi, before ChatGPT existed. What matters most is the share of writing and coding tasks, the areas where AI performs best.
Homework grades are driving the spike, not exam scores
The research question is whether higher grades reflect actual learning gains or just AI doing the work. To find out, author Igor Chirikov also looked at how much homework counted toward the final grade.
If AI really improved learning, grade increases should show up no matter whether a course leans on homework or proctored exams. But if AI is just replacing student work on unsupervised assignments, the effects should cluster in courses where homework carries more weight.
