TRUE FACT: In an attempt to reduce grade inflation, the Subcommittee on Grading of the Undergraduate Educational Policy Committee at Harvard University recently recommended that the number of A grades awarded in any given course at the school be capped at 20% (Harvard College of Undergraduate Education website).
Princeton is following a different path. Indeed, some might say it’s taking the high road: providing students with incentives rather than applying pressure to faculty.
Beginning in September 2026, a Princeton student who agrees at the time of course registration to accept a final grade of B without complaint will not be required to complete any assignments for that course. No papers, no exams, no reports, no nuthin’.
Additionally, if the student is comfortable with a grade of C, he or she will receive 500 shares of Nvidia stock and complimentary tour tickets for 3 different Southern plantation tours:
- Oak Alley (Vacherie, LA)
- Boone Hall (Mount Pleasant, SC)
- Belle Meade (Nashville, TN)
According to Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton’s President, “we prefer to catch our flies with honey — and we have lots of that — rather than vinegar. It’s the Princeton way.”
Well, Yale. The whole world is watching.