The review attributes the life sciences’ increased ratings to a number of factors, including the employment of Ph.D.-level advisors and more opportunities for research inside and outside the classroom. The number of life sciences concentrators who participate in research for credit has risen across all nine concentrations, and the number of thesis writers has also grown.

The establishment of foundational courses like Life Sciences 1a and Life Sciences 1b, whose enrollments have risen by more than 20 percent between the 2006-2007 and 2011-2012 academic years, also has contributed to greater interest among students, according to the review. Lue said at Tuesday’s meeting that the restructured foundational courses were meant to appeal to a wide range of undergraduates, including non-science concentrators.

“We decided that there was no difference, at the foundational level, of what a future life scientist needs and what a future poet needs,” Lue said.

According to the report, Harvard has proportionally more underrepresented minority concentrators in the life sciences than minority representation in the student body at large, a trend that runs counter to national statistics showing fewer underrepresented minorities graduating with biology degrees.

The review was one of three docketed items at Tuesday’s meeting, which included a discussion of HarvardX led by Peter Bol, vice provost of advancements in learning. Perhaps the most timely business of the meeting—given the approaching exam period—came when Jay M. Harris, dean of undergraduate education, said that the median grade at Harvard College is A- and the most awarded mark is A.

—Staff writer Nicholas P. Fandos contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Jessica A. Barzilay can be reached at jessica.barzilay@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaBarzilay.

—Staff writer Matthew Q. Clarida can be reached at matthewclarida@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattClarida.