Weeks after the University of Michigan made headlines with its plan to keep letter grades from appearing on the transcripts of some first-year students or affecting their GPAs, the decision continues to stir debate — with critics accusing the prestigious school of shielding students from reality and warning the move could backfire. Journal even published an op-ed with the title “ Coddle U. ” But on a recent day on the Ann Arbor campus, students expressed cautious optimism. They said they agreed that transitioning to college can be hard but were uncertain if they wanted “pass” and “no credit” to replace traditional letter grades on their transcripts.
Students will still know what grade they received in a given class. U-M says the idea of withholding the letter grade from transcripts and preventing it from affecting grade point averages is to “foster an environment where college students can acclimate to the demands of a University of Michigan education and pursue new academic challenges.” It’s still working out all the details of the pilot program, slated to start in fall 2027 with first-year, first-semester students in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. LSA is the largest of U-M’s schools and colleges, accounting for more than half of undergraduate enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus.
Tim McKay, associate dean for undergraduate education at LSA, told Bridge there are two main goals for the program: encouraging academic exploration and improving student mental health. Bridge Michigan spoke with several U-M students recently about the policy. Many said they were supportive of giving students more leeway as they transition to new expectations at college.
And it’s partially prolonging the inevitable that these grades are going to count, and you really do need to lock in your study schedule and figure out how to go to office hours and all these things that really count in your university experience.” The pilot program has also faced criticism nationally including allegations that the school is coddling students, which McKay roundly rejects. Meanwhile, the U-M decision comes as Michigan policymakers weigh proposals on how to better prepare high school students for life after graduation. Venessa Keesler, CEO and president of Launch Michigan, a bipartisan group working to change Michigan’s high school graduation requirements, told Bridge it’s interesting that conversations about the value of a grade are also happening at the college level.
And it shifts the conversation to demonstrating mastery of skills, mastery of knowledge, mastery of competencies,” Keesler said. Will students still receive letter grades in class? Will this program exist for transfer students?
Transfer students are not eligible, according to the LSA website. Can a student opt into showing their first semester grades on their transcript or them being calculated into their GPA? McKay said the school is still figuring out the details but it is unlikely that the school will allow for first-semester grades to be factored into a student’s grade, even if a student’s first semester grades are good.
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