For years, Harvard University has been widely known in the United States as one of the most prestigious universities and the dream college of many high school students.  This makes perfect sense, as Harvard has produced eight presidents, 180 billionaires, and countless other successful individuals.  

However, on May 20 Harvard announced that it would cap A grades at twenty percent per class plus four additional A grades in the class for the 2027 fall semester.  Harvard University sees this decision as a necessary step to preserve the legacy of the prestigious university, but in reality, it could spell the downfall of the centuries-old institution.

Supporters of the policy argue that Harvard’s ‘easy’ grading has harmed its reputation, but starving top students of their rightful grade actually tarnishes their prestige.  Students who have been admitted to Harvard have already gone through a rigorous college application process where only the top three percent of students are chosen out of thousands of applicants.  Thus, the high concentration of grades is to be expected due to the high capability of the students and is not simply the same as grade inflation found at other non-elite universities. 

“I think Harvard should reward excellence from their students rather than restrict it.  This will force students to fear that their hard work will not pay off,” said freshman Kush Taparia.

The average Harvard student is forced to study for 40-50 hours weekly, on average, due to the sheer difficulty of Harvard coursework and exams.  When students are forced to compete with their peers to achieve the highest A grades possible, they will have to study even more, leading to large mental and physical tolls.  

Overstudying has been proven to lead to headaches and stomachaches, along with anxiety and depression, which all contribute to burnout.  Overstudying can also lead to considerable fatigue that causes students to fail to recall important information and concepts, inducing a larger academic downfall than the one Harvard claims it is trying to solve. 

“I think this is an incredibly important lesson for Harvard to learn, as it will decrease the average student’s motivation to study and make learning feel like a forced chore rather than a goal.  Also, this will worsen the severe mental health crisis already present on many college campuses,” said freshman Yonatan Shepshelovich.

With this overstudying, students will be unable to think creatively and improve Harvard in other ways, such as leading initiatives, running clubs, and playing on top sports teams; they will have no energy and time to commit to these activities.  Harvard’s student organizations define them.  Teams such as the Crimson and Harvard’s Model Congress are world-renowned and important ways that students can explore work relevant to their majors and build significant skills before entering an often scary and daunting workforce.  

The shift will also discourage students from taking challenging courses due to the risk of failure and a poor GPA.  Harvard is known for having some of the most difficult and rigorous courses of any university, including Math 55, which is known for having a 50% drop rate, teaching four years of college-level math in one year and containing 20-60 hours of homework weekly.  

These classes build creative thinkers and encourage students to solve problems as well as go beyond what is expected of regular students, which is the exact mentality that Harvard prides itself on.  However, their decision to cap grades will harm creative thinkers, discourage entrepreneurship and resilience, and destroy the foundation that Harvard builds upon and puts forward. 

“Creative thinking shows individuality and being different from others.  Harvard’s decision to grade more strictly will lead to more potential bias in grading and will discourage students from thinking critically and for themselves,” said freshman Sloane Zofchak.

Finally, Harvard will become even more inaccessible to average students as a result of this decision.  Harvard is composed of both very wealthy scholars who have the financial resources to attend prestigious high schools as well as students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and who did not have the same opportunities and resources available to them.  This restriction will reward the students who have had a head start already and punish those who didn’t, worsening the already large inequality gap at the university. 

Ultimately, Harvard’s grading cap signals a new era of college academics where creative thinking and risk-taking are discouraged, work is prioritized over health, and inequality remains at large.  For Harvard to remain the prestigious university it is meant to be, it should choose fair grading for students over an artificial system that contains no benefits.