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Nearly Half of Harvard Grades Are A or A-Minus, Study Finds

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From Associated Press

Nearly half of all grades at Harvard University last year were A or A-minus, a steep increase from just 10 years earlier, according to a university study that follows reports of grade inflation at the Ivy League school.

The report charted grades for the last 15 years and found that A’s and A-minuses grew from 33.2% of all grades in 1985 to 48.5% last year. Failing grades, Ds and Cs accounted for less than 6%.

“With such a narrow range of grades available, faculty find it difficult to distinguish adequately between work of differing quality; they may also be unable to make such distinctions clear to students,” wrote Susan Pedersen, dean of undergraduate education.

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The dean has no official power in the issue but can push for change.

The highest rate of A’s was in small humanities classes, making up almost two-thirds of all grades given. Social science classes with 75 students or more were the toughest, with a third of all students receiving A’s or A-minuses.

Some of the factors driving professors’ generosity with grades were pressure to grade similarly to colleagues, fear of becoming known as a “tough grader” and pressure from students accustomed to higher grades, the study said.

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