Michigan Thinks Grades Are the Problem
The University of Michigan plans to exclude first-semester letter grades from students’ transcripts to “curb the mental health crisis.” What would seem like a mundane university-level grading change has become a cultural touchpoint. Early-morning talk shows, national to local outlets—everyone seems to have a reaction.
The grading policy is expected to go into effect in fall 2027 in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the largest school at the university. Freshmen will still know what grades they received internally, but those grades won’t count toward their overall GPA. Everyone will be required to receive pass/no credit because “covering an individual’s grades will inadvertently become equated with them not doing well in a class.”
Although covered grading appeals to a very real concern about the difficult transition year, it is a risky policy with an unremarkable track record. Although covered grading appeals to a very real concern about the difficult transition year, it is a risky policy with an unremarkable track record.
History of Covered Grading
Covered, or shadow, grading is when colleges share freshmen’s letter grades with students internally but exclude them from transcripts. The rationale for this kind of policy has historically been to ease the stress that high-achieving students place on themselves when attending unusually rigorous schools.
Michigan would join a small club of universities that have this unusual policy. Other prominent universities include MIT, Caltech, and Wellesley. Schools that adopted these policies mostly did so in the 1960s and 1970s, with Caltech and MIT as early adopters. Caltech facultyhoped that students would learn to “substitute more mature and substantial motives for work than the threat of a low GPA or the status of a high one.”
Does Covered Grading Work?
Covered grading may reduce stress and encourage students to try courses they otherwise would have avoided. Michigan has indicated that it would evaluateits initiative largely on these measures. But the question shouldn’t just be whether covered grading is liked by students or whether it reduces stress. A policy can achieve its immediate aims while creating more serious problems elsewhere.
——-
