The University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) will begin a pilot program in Fall 2027 to implement a pass/no credit grading system for incoming freshmen during their first semester. The change aims to foster a supportive environment and address what the university describes as a 'mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals.'
Under the new system, first-semester students will still receive grades and feedback on assignments, but final letter grades will be withheld from external transcripts and excluded from their grade point average (GPA). The university stated this approach is intended to help students acclimate to the demands of higher education and encourage them to pursue new academic challenges without the immediate pressure of formal grading.
LSA officials believe that removing the initial grading pressure will help students establish early momentum, a key element of the university's campus-wide Student Success Initiative. The college aims to cultivate a culture of connection and collaboration rather than competition, allowing intrinsic motivations to guide students' academic journeys.
Internal records of these first-semester grades will be maintained by the university for purposes such as academic advising, scholarship considerations, and for students applying to internships or declaring majors outside of LSA. Beginning with their second semester, students' grades will be recorded on their transcripts and factored into their GPAs for all subsequent semesters at the university.
The LSA, one of the university's largest colleges with over 18,000 students in majors like economics and computer science, views this change as an investment in student well-being and growth. The university noted that similar grading policies have been adopted by institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1968, the California Institute of Technology, Swarthmore College, and Wellesley College. MIT's registrar's office has stated that its program is designed to ease the transition by allowing students time to adjust to increased workloads and variations in academic preparation and teaching methods.