As Harvard Tightens Grading Standards, Varsity Team GPAs Decline

More than half of Harvard’s varsity teams saw their average grade point averages drop in fall 2025, marking a sharp semester-to-semester downturn across sports programs amid the College’s push to rein in grade inflation.

Among the 26 men’s and women’s teams reviewed by The Crimson — representing over half of Harvard’s 42 varsity programs — nearly all recorded GPA declines from spring 2025.

The downturn comes as Harvard tightens grading standards. In an October report, Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh described grade inflation as a threat to the College’s academic mission. Faculty reduced the share of As awarded from 60.2 percent in the spring to 53.4 percent in the fall — a shift that came alongside declines in team GPAs across the athletics department.

The Crimson reviewed teams’ average GPAs across semesters using publicly available information on team social media pages.

Among the teams reviewed, women’s golf saw the greatest semester-to-semester decline, with its GPA dropping 0.35 points from 3.89 in spring 2025 to 3.54 in the fall. Men’s fencing followed, posting a 0.23 point decrease from 3.56 in spring 2025 to 3.33 in the fall. Men’s squash dropped 0.22 points from 3.65 to 3.43.

Men’s fencing and men’s basketball recorded the lowest averages in the fall among the teams reviewed at 3.33 and 3.39, respectively — roughly equivalent to approximately a B+. The men’s cross country, wrestling, squash, and baseball teams’ average GPAs all clustered in the 3.40 range.

By comparison, the lowest team GPAs in spring 2025 — held by men’s cross country and track and field at 3.54 and football at 3.60, respectively — were approximately 0.20 points higher than the lowest marks in the fall. Nordic skiing was the only team to experience a semester-to-semester increase in average GPA, rising from 3.63 in spring 2025 to 3.72 in the fall.

Men’s golf posted the highest semester average GPA in the fall at 3.79, down from the team’s 3.96 average in spring 2025, when the team held the top GPA among golf programs nationwide.

The men’s lacrosse team has also maintained a strong academic record, receiving the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Team GPA Award in each of the past four seasons. After receiving a semester average of 3.81 last spring, the team saw its GPA fall to 3.71 in the fall.

Harvard Athletics spokesperson Imry Halevi wrote in a statement that Harvard’s varsity sports programs often share their team’s average GPA publicly to “highlight their commitment to academics.”

“We are proud that our student-athletes continue to be recognized nationally for their academic achievement and success,” he said.

The ongoing debate at the College and FAS over how to curb grade inflation could further shape team GPAs in the semesters ahead. A faculty committee proposal released last week would limit A-range grades to 20 percent in each course, with room for four additional As per class, starting next academic year. The proposal will be reviewed by the Faculty Council and is expected to come before the full faculty later this semester.

Students have signalled widespread resistance to the proposal. In a Harvard Undergraduate Association survey this week that drew responses from almost 800 students, nearly 85 percent said they opposed the proposed cap on A grades.

—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at juliak.80.

—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.