Beginning with the class of 2028, the Dean’s List will no longer exist. For the classes of 2024–2027, it will remain as it currently stands, meaning any student taking four single-credit classes that receives a grade point average (GPA) above 3.5 will be included on the list.

Karen Brewer, Professor of Chemistry and the chair of the Committee on Academic Policy (CAP), explains her support for getting rid of the Dean’s List. “When we looked at the data…last fall [of 2023], 58 percent of the students were on the Dean’s List,” she said. In a presentation given to the Student Government Association, the CAP explained that this is problematic because having “a large majority of students on the Dean’s List means that the list is no longer a distinctive academic honor.”

This reality prompted discussions about potentially keeping the Dean’s List, albeit in a new way. These conversations did not lead to any real solutions. One idea, according to Brewer, had been to “increase the GPA limit…you could go to 3.7…but then there’s pressure to go up…and then at some point you’re at a 4.0.” She said another potential solution, “was to take a percentage of the class…and that just feels like graduation honors, which we already have.” Brewer and the CAP ultimately decided that the Dean’s List is counter-intuitive.

Brewer and students recognize that pressures like the Dean’s List may act as an incentive to take easier classes within the open curriculum. Brewer noted that some “students are manipulating their schedule [and] they’ll choose [taking] a class that will raise their GPA.”

Phillip Slavchev ’26 thought this was surely the case at Hamilton. He stated, “many Hamilton students take classes just because they are easy. For instance, I know many people who take sculpture just because it is an easy A.” He added that he does not,“take any classes because [he] thinks they will be easy.” Instead, he tries to, “take classes that will either be interesting or useful.”

Slavchev had faith in what he called, “the intellectual pursuit,” which he believed, “makes students take what’s most interesting to them.”

Slavchev, unlike Brewer, said he saw value in the Dean’s List. He believed the list acted as a source of motivation for students. He said, “I care about the Dean’s List. I think it is a shame they got rid of it completely, as I believe there were many good things that came out of it. Personally, it did motivate me to do better in my classes and I felt proud of myself when I got on it.”

The CAP also noted that the public nature of the Dean’s List could create anxiety amongst students. An example of this was when, every semester, the names of the students who make the Dean’s List are published online. In the process of determining the future of the Dean’s List, Brewer said the CAP was “going to eliminate that it would be publicized…we were uncomfortable with that.” To the CAP, the only thing the Dean’s List accomplished was creating stress and competition for students over their grades. To them, any “anxiety about making the list and GPA is contrary to the ideals of Hamilton’s open curriculum, which encourages students to take academic risks.”

Frank Papetti ’26 thought this anxiety was all-too real. He said that, “There’s a lot of pressure to do well, so some kids will just do what gives them the best GPA.”

This pressure could perhaps explain the rapid rise in GPAs which has become commonplace for Hamilton and other elite private schools. Brewer described possible reasons for this rise. She felt that professors are nudged into giving students good grades so that more students will take their classes. She said that professors have to strike a balance as they, “want to have enrollment [but also] want to have classes that are engaging.” Brewer said faculty are ultimately, “tied a little bit to faculty evaluations…if you get a good grade, you’ll like us [the professors] more. We like to be evaluated well.”

Many have observed grade inflation at Hamilton, as the school has “increased [its] grades slightly over the last 20 years…so it hurts some students, so if you take a challenging course, or even if you’re just not good at art, and you end up getting all B’s…a B feels like an F…there’s a lot of peer pressure… you’re all also very used to getting all A’s.” Brewer felt this was the reason the average GPA at Hamilton had risen to a 3.61 for the spring of 2023. According to a CAP presentation given to the Student Government Alliance, in 2013 the GPA benchmark for Cum Laude was a 3.6 GPA. Now, it is a 3.8 GPA. Although this increase has taken place over time, it demonstrates clear grade inflation.

But, as Brewer noted, grade inflation can vary based on departments. She said that her department, chemistry, had the lowest average GPA at the school.

Slavchev said he sees this variety at Hamilton, explaining that, “from talking with my friends, it seems like STEM classes are very hard. Both in the sense to learn all of the material and to get good grades. Many humanities departments are known for being easier, but there are definitely humanities classes that are challenging and require lots of work to excel in.” He added that, “It wouldn’t be fair to make a broad generalization that humanities are always easier than other types of classes, as they are often testing you on different types of skills. STEM is very analytic, and there is often a right and wrong answer.”

Sarah Healy ’24, a math major, shared that she would not make the Dean’s List if it were based just on her major GPA. However, she makes the Dean’s List due to the higher grades she earns in her classes outside of STEM. In terms of grading across different disciplines, Healy described how the grading in her math classes “is a lot less subjective than humanities classes I have taken. For classes like calc[ulus] there’s going to be a right answer and you either have it or you don’t.” She was thankful that because her math classes have much more objective grading, “Most of [her] professors in the department were generous with partial credit, gave thorough feedback, and some provided opportunities for rewrites and getting points back.” She said that ultimately, “Humanities classes usually don’t have curves because there is a different standard and expectation and the kind of learning you’re doing is different.”

Ali Joseph ’25, a neuroscience major, agrees with Healy. She said, “I definitely feel like I have to put more work in than my peers who are not in STEM fields.” She continued in contrast to her STEM classes, “In humanities, I feel as though it is easier to grasp the certain knowledge in class that is required when thinking about how that knowledge is applied.”

This phenomenon of grade inflation is not unique to Hamilton and has been well-documented at institutions such as Princeton University and Yale University.

According to an article titled, “A little bit of grade inflation never hurt anyone,” in The Daily Princetonian, GPAs at Princeton have increased from an average of a 3.30 in 2005, to a 3.46 in 2018–2019, to 3.56 in the 2022–2023 academic year.

According to a New York Times article called “Nearly Everyone Gets A’s at Yale. Does That Cheaper the Grade?” Yale follows a similar trend, where the average GPA rose from a 3.41 in 2002–2003 to the current average GPA of 3.8. Yale, who published its GPAs by major, is an example that this disparity between STEM and humanities is very real at elite private schools.

The Spectator reached out to Victoria Fenton ’26, a current student at Yale, who clearly feels this difference. She explained that while, “It is still really hard to get A’s, the humanities majors are definitely easier.”

Brewer thought that while grade inflation certainly played a role, it was not the only motivation for the removal of the Dean’s List. For Brewer, the main reason was its lack of practicality in the real world. After speaking with other faculty members and the Career Center, she said, “It is not important for a resume…it is not referenced in reference letters, and it is not important for jobs.” The CAP echoed this statement in their presentation, saying, “[the] Dean’s List is neither a necessary nor a substantial requirement or boost for graduate school, initial careers, post-Hamilton fellowships, etc.” It was such a futile concept in the wake of grade inflation for more schools than Hamilton. Brewer said that “All the other NESCACs…are exactly like us.”

If Hamilton were to fight against its grade inflation while other schools did not, Brewer worried that “Hamilton students [would] start to look bad or weaker, whether that’s for jobs or graduate school.” For that reason, grade inflation is seemingly bound to continue being a factor at Hamilton and other elite private colleges and universities.

For this reason, Hamilton is not alone in ending its Dean’s List. Brewer mentioned that “Amherst doesn’t have a Dean’s List, Brown hasn’t had a Dean’s List in forever, Princeton just got rid of it…Cornell, too.” Brewer was resigned to the fact that “No school’s really solving this, because how do you do a collective reset?” For Brewer, Hamilton wouldn’t be able to fight grade inflation unless all of its peer schools were going to do something about it.

Brewer said it would be at least 10 years before the Dean’s List is looked at again. She also said that, ultimately, “there was no dissent” to the idea of ending the Dean’s List. Papetti said something along the same lines, adding, “Who even cares about the Dean’s List?”