Graduates attend the University of Texas at Austin’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, May 9, 2026 in Austin. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Higher education is in trouble — and grades are losing their meaning. That’s the verdict a committee from Yale University reached last month in a report that said universities have strayed from their purpose and violated the public’s trust. Committee members said the most common grade at Yale University and at colleges nationwide has been an A for at least the last 10 years. Nationally, 43% to 50% of grades are A’s, according to EdTech company Scholaro, which cites data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
The University of Texas at Austin is no exception. An American-Statesman analysis found that the trend is even more pronounced at the Forty Acres, where two-thirds of grades recorded were A’s, and 87% of grades were a B- or better in fall 2025. UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said university calculations — which include small courses and late grades — show a lower percentage of A and B grades for the 2025-26 academic year at 82.4%, including data from both fall 2025 and spring 2026 semesters. The Statesman did not have access to the small course or late grades data for its analysis.
Still, both percentages of A’s and B’s represent an increase from the 2015-16 academic year, where just under half of all grades awarded were A’s and about 80% were a B- or better. Rosen said the university is aware of the grade distribution data and is “assessing it.”
The 2026 Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education’s grade findings garnered national media attention and calls for action to limit the number of top scores. Harvard University faculty voted Wednesday to cap A’s given in a course to 20%, not including A- grades, in a decision they hope will strengthen academic culture and serve as a model to peer institutions. In responses to questions, Rosen did not specify how UT plans to address their own grade share.
In Texas, a researcher at a conservative think tank has been concerned about rising grades for more than a decade. “A’s and B’s are supposed to mean above average,” said Thomas Lindsay, a senior policy expert at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “So when we tell parents and students that a certain percentage are performing above average, it’s a mathematical and a moral impossibility.”
Lindsay said the trend makes GPAs a less valuable predictor of a student’s potential for employers, and college a less rigorous experience for an increasingly-high price. Inflation disadvantages high-performing students from colleges without UT’s prestige, who aren’t rewarded for doing well, Lindsay said. Recent data supports his prediction: A 2025 job outlook report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that less than half of surveyed employers screen candidates based on GPAs.