Harvard report warns of ‘damaging’ grade inflation, 60% of grades are A’s

The College Fix ^ | November 28, 2025 | Cecilia Jones

[Olog-hai]

Harvard University’s Office of Undergraduate Education is raising concerns about mounting grade inflation, reporting that the school’s grading system is “damaging the academic culture of the College.”

The office sent a 25-page report to faculty and students, stating that 60 percent of all undergraduate grades are now As. This is a 35 percent increase compared to 20 years ago, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Veronica Bryant, academic affairs fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told The Fix that if Harvard allows grade inflation to skyrocket, the problem will worsen at other schools.

“‘As goes Harvard, so goes the nation’ is a phrase for a reason. If other schools see America’s oldest and most prestigious university as weakening standards, why should they keep high standards, especially as they compete for fewer and fewer students?” she said.

Bryant told The Fix that Harvard’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years with stories such as the resignation of President Claudine Gay and a 2023 New Yorker article in which a Harvard administrator stated that Harvard students struggled to identify the subjects and verbs within The Scarlet Letter. …

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

‘As goes Harvard, so goes the nation’

Yeah, we’ve seen the result of that, psychotic judges on the bench, lunatic DAs, moronic AGs.

[jeffersondem]

How can 60 percent of students be above average?

[GOPJ]

Harvard hasn’t had a good reputation in decades. What are they talking about? Delusions of grandeur?

[MinorityRepublican]

Permissive parenting helped create today’s entitlement culture on campuses by raising kids with few limits, constant praise, and little experience with consequences. When students grow up rarely hearing “no” or handling problems on their own, they arrive at college expecting special treatment and comfort at all times. Universities, treating students more like customers, often reinforce this—making entitlement feel normal rather than earned.

[Menehune56]

“All must have prizes.”

[bigbob]

They’re not, obviously. This is just like a situation a friend ran into when it took over as manager of a department and found that nearly all the people working in it were being paid at the top of the scale. It was just easier for his predecessor to give raises (”A’s” than to do his job right.

[ArcadeQuarters]

It’s a diversity miracle!

[Paladin2]

Why would Harvard have to admit anyone but “A” students?

[Paladin2]

All Harvard students should be way above average.

[Organic Panic]

Which classes have the most grade inflation?

[minnesota_bound]

The Incredibles ‘Everyone’s special’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXCCBmTvBI

Mom: “Everyone’s special, Dash”.
Dash: “That’s just another way of saying no one is”

Later in the movie:
Syndrome: “Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super...
[laughs maniacally] no one will be”.

[minnesota_bound]

How do you tell whether someone went to Harvard?
You don’t have to. They will definitely tell you.

How many Harvard students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Just one. They just hold the light bulb and the universe revolves around them!

[maddog55]

Used to be F’s are the new A’s.... Makes sense looking at the idiots coming out of college.

[daniel1212]

The office sent a 25-page report to faculty and students, stating that 60 percent of all undergraduate grades are now As. This is a 35 percent increase compared to 20 years ago, according to The Harvard Crimson.

And yet even before that:

In a Harvard Crimson article, noted conservative Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield contended that "Grade inflation got started … when professors raised the grades of students protesting the war in Vietnam..." "At that time, too, white professors, imbibing the spirit of the new policies of affirmative action, stopped giving low grades to black students, and to justify or conceal this, also stopped giving low grades to white students." The problem was essentially seen as the predominance of the notion of self-esteem, "in which the purpose of education is to make students feel capable and 'empowered,' and professors should hesitate to pass judgment on what students have learned." Such assertions resulted in no small controversy.

Harvard alumnus and author Ross Douthat attributed this problem partly to socioeconomic differences, and noted that "Harvard students are creatively lazy, gifted at working smarter rather than harder", being brilliant largely in their tactics "to achieve a maximal GPA in return for minimal effort." Few people who have taught at Harvard agree with Douthat's notions.^{[19] [ Ross Douthat, "The Truth About Harvard," The Atlantic Monthly March 2005 ; adapted from his book, Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class] - https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Harvard_University&redirect=no&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop}

In a Harvard Crimson article, noted conservative Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield contended that "Grade inflation got started … when professors raised the grades of students protesting the war in Vietnam..." "At that time, too, white professors, imbibing the spirit of the new policies of affirmative action, stopped giving low grades to black students, and to justify or conceal this, also stopped giving low grades to white students." The problem was essentially seen as the predominance of the notion of self-esteem, "in which the purpose of education is to make students feel capable and 'empowered,' and professors should hesitate to pass judgment on what students have learned." Such assertions resulted in no small controversy.

Harvard alumnus and author Ross Douthat attributed this problem partly to socioeconomic differences, and noted that "Harvard students are creatively lazy, gifted at working smarter rather than harder", being brilliant largely in their tactics "to achieve a maximal GPA in return for minimal effort." Few people who have taught at Harvard agree with Douthat's notions.^{[19] [ Ross Douthat, "The Truth About Harvard," The Atlantic Monthly March 2005 ; adapted from his book, Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class] - https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Harvard_University&redirect=no&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop}

[Theodore R.]

The reason Harvard gives high grades overall is because students evaluate their professors annually or twice a year. These evaluations are accepted as absolute fact by dishonest administrators.

[supremedoctrine]

The self fulfilling prophesy is “Hey, we’re Harvard! Of course most of us get “A” ! Because we are HARVARD!

[supremedoctrine]

The self fulfilling prophesy is “Hey, we’re Harvard! Of course most of us get “A” ! Because we are HARVARD!

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This is like a criminal reporting on the dangerous increase in crime. Harvard is the culprit. A big part of it is the student grading of professors that got way out of control. There is value to students grading professors but it has to be done carefully.