Harvard’s grades in 2025:
A: 66 percent
A and A-: 84 percent
Grade inflation, anyone?
If you think these astonishing grades might simply be reflective of the hard work and intellect of the average Harvard student, consider this:
The Sophia Freund Prize goes to the graduating senior with the highest GPA. For decades, this prize went to one student or occasionally two if there was a tie.
In 2025, there was a 55-way tie.
That’s quite the change.
Rigor seems to be flagging at the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
When you meet a recent Harvard grad, perhaps discount what you may have once thought.
Getting accepted into the institution might still require hard work and great intellect (though about a third of admissions are also legacy students, the children of faculty members, or recruited athletes), but once accepted, it would appear that doing well might not be as impressive as it once was.
