Academics
As the Grade Cap Looms, Arts and Performance-Based Classes Prepare to ‘Nudge' Grading Toward Compliance
With Harvard’s cap on A grades approaching, the College’s performance-based classes are changing how they assess students, shifting from “vibes-based” grading to more concrete performance metrics or, in some cases, considering dropping letter grades altogether.
More Work, Fewer Screens: How Harvard’s Classroom Changed in Three Years
A Crimson analysis of roughly 130,000 undergraduate Q Guide evaluations and 4,300 syllabi found that students report spending more time on coursework — especially in fields that once had the lightest workloads — while professors increasingly restrict AI and in-class devices.
Harvard Kennedy School Hired EY-Parthenon to Study Demand for Tech Policy Degree
Harvard Kennedy School hired the consulting firm EY-Parthenon to gauge demand for a possible new degree in technology and public policy, a school spokesperson confirmed, as Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein works to make technology a centerpiece of the school’s plans for the next decade.
Harvard Business School Ends Required Global Immersion for First-Year MBAs
Harvard Business School will no longer require first-year MBA students to travel abroad for a global capstone project, ending a signature element of its first-year curriculum that has sent hundreds of students overseas annually since 2011.
Harvard Kennedy School Pilots Tech Policy Concentration for MPP Students
Harvard Kennedy School launched a pilot concentration in technology policy this semester, giving master’s in public policy students a more technically demanding path through the school’s growing slate of courses on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Harvard Built an AI Academic Adviser. Here’s How It Fared.
The Crimson tested Harvard Student Compass, the College's new AI advising chatbot, and found it handled straightforward policy questions well — but that limits became clearer on the nuanced questions that usually send students to human advisers.
CS50 Recompiles Amid Malan Sabbatical, New Grading Cap
For nearly 20 years, hundreds of students have filed into Sanders Theatre for Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science,” where David J. Malan ’99 has traditionally opened the course by stepping onto the stage, arms wide, and declaring, “This is CS50.”
With AI Hard to Detect, Harvard Faculty Move the Fight Back Into the Classroom
As AI becomes routine in Harvard coursework, faculty are finding that the real challenge is no longer catching students who use it, but redesigning classes around a technology that is changing how students study and work.
A Month Without TFs: How HGSU-UAW’s Strike Reshaped the End of the Spring Semester
Harvard’s longest graduate student worker strike disrupted the end of the spring semester, leaving faculty to adjust courses and submit grades as undergraduates prepared for exams, internships, and Commencement.
Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Elects Final 93 Seniors From Class of 2026
Ninety-three seniors joined Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa class Thursday — the latest group inducted into the nation’s oldest academic honor society.
After A-Grade Cap Passes, Students Warn of Competition and Narrower Course Choices
Harvard undergraduates voiced strong opposition to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ decision to cap A grades at roughly 20 percent of undergraduate course enrollment, warning the policy will fuel competition, narrow course selection, and disadvantage students from less-resourced backgrounds.
Harvard Faculty Back 20-Plus-Four Formula Over Square-Root Amendment in Poll on A-Grade Cap
A “solid majority” of Harvard faculty preferred a formula that would cap A grades at 20 percent of enrolled students plus four over an amended version that would have set the cap at 20 percent plus 0.6 times the square root of enrollment, Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh announced in a Thursday email to faculty.
HAW Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against Harvard, Cites Improper Change to Expos Class Sizes
The Harvard Academic Workers Union-United Auto Workers filed an unfair labor practice charge Wednesday, accusing the University of illegally increasing teaching workloads by expanding class sizes in its Expository Writing program without bargaining.
Harvard Faculty Weigh Amendment That Would Tighten A-Grade Cap in Smaller Courses
Harvard faculty are weighing an amendment to a proposed cap on undergraduate As that would substantially reduce the number of A’s awarded in smaller courses, the latest revision to a policy faculty have debated for months.
Deming Says Ivy Deans Talked Budget Strains, Grading Reform, and Public Trust at Annual Conference
Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said the financial strain on elite universities dominated discussions at a gathering of Ivy League deans last weekend, where administrators traded notes on how to respond to leaner budgets, grade inflation, and a recent Yale report on eroding public trust in higher education.
Harvard College Adds Required AI Module to Expository Writing Curriculum
All Harvard College freshmen enrolled in expository writing courses were required to complete a three-part training module on artificial intelligence this semester, the first time the training has been mandated across the program.
Harvard Plans to Increase Introductory Writing Course Sizes, Drawing Union Objections
Harvard plans to increase class sizes in a subset of its introductory writing courses, a move that union leaders said would improperly raise instructors’ workloads during ongoing contract negotiations.
Harvard to Launch New ‘Energy, Climate, and the Environment’ Concentration
Harvard faculty voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve a new interdisciplinary “Energy, Climate, and the Environment” concentration, set to launch in the 2026-27 academic year — even as some professors warned that its success will depend on resources and coordination.
Faculty Postpone Grading Proposal Vote to May to Allow for Extended Discussion
Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences on Tuesday postponed a vote on a contentious proposal to cap A grades, pushing the decision to May to allow for extended discussion.
Deming Says He Hopes to ‘Push Harder’ on AI, Acknowledges Widespread Student Use
Harvard College Dean David J. Deming acknowledged that far more students are likely using artificial intelligence than the College’s disciplinary system has been able to detect, saying he hopes to “push harder” on the issue in the years ahead.
Deming Says Faculty Will Be Urged to Cap A Grades Next Year if 2027 Plan Passes
Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said administrators would “strongly encourage” faculty to begin capping A grades in their courses next year if the College’s grading reform takes effect in fall 2027.
Harvard College Delays Proposed A-Grade Cap to 2027, Adds ‘SAT+’ Designation
Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh announced Monday that Harvard College will delay implementation of its controversial grading reform to fall 2027 and introduce a new “SAT+” grade, marking the most significant revisions yet to a proposal aimed at curbing grade inflation.
Nearly 1 in 3 Harvard Varsity Athletes Concentrate in Economics
Nearly one in three Harvard varsity upperclassmen athletes study Economics — a concentration rate far higher than any other field and driven largely by men’s teams, where athletes share the same concentration more often than on women’s teams.
Harvard, HAW-UAW Reach Deal on Intellectual Property but Clash on Time Caps, Immigration
Harvard reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday to enshrine intellectual property protections for non-tenure-track faculty in its first union contract with academic workers, but the University rejected renewed pushes to codify immigration safeguards and eliminate the preceptor classification.
After Mixed Results Elsewhere, Faculty at Peer Schools Caution Harvard on Rigid A-Grade Cap
Faculty leaders at peer institutions that have already confronted grade inflation said Harvard is right to take the problem seriously — but warned that a rigid cap on A grades risks running into problems other schools have faced.
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