University of Michigan switches first-semester grades to pass/fail for mental health
The university will replace letter grades with pass/fail marks in freshmen's first semester to reduce academic anxiety.
Conversation activity · last 16 hours peak 9/30m
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 35 items across 5 sources · 7h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
University of Michigan announced it will convert first-semester grades to pass/fail instead of traditional letter grades, effective immediately. The policy change aims to address mental health concerns among freshmen and encourage academic exploration without fear of long-term grade consequences.
- University of Michigan replaces traditional letter grades with pass/fail for first-semester freshmen.
- Policy aims to reduce mental health pressures and encourage academic risk-taking among new students.
- Change addresses concerns that low grades could have negative long-term consequences for student wellbeing.
How it unfolded
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NewsMax, Legal Insurrection, and other news outlets publish coverage of the policy, with varying framings of the rationale.
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Wall Street Journal publishes initial coverage of the grading policy change, framing it as an effort to 'curb mental health crisis.'
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University of Michigan announced it will make first-semester grades pass or fail instead of traditional letter grades to address mental health concerns among freshmen.
What people are saying verbatim
“a low grade may have long-term consequences”
University of Michigan, Institution statement · New York Times ↗ · Aug 10
“The university will make first-semester grades pass or fail, to encourage students to explore different classes and lessen fears that "a low grade may have long-term consequences."”
Mark Arsenault, New York Times reporter · New York Times ↗ · Aug 10
Voices from the web unedited
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When you force high school kids to work days that are significantly longer than a normal adult to achieve a good GPA and get into a good college, you can expect that they are going to throttle back once they're away from home with way more free time than is normal.From my kid's experience: she was up at 6:30am, in AP classes by 7:30am (three more…
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I'm not sure how to feel about this.On the one hand, this is good for people who need time to adapt to college. It's a big change, especially for young people who are living apart from family for the first time. You have to adapt to living alone AND an entirely new social environment AND a much more independent/rigorous academic environment all at…
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https://archive.ph/FBFjJGiven that 75% of all grades in 2022 were A's, grade inflation has already made the indicator value of grades pretty meaningless. I think this take from a student captures it well:> Louth, 20 years old, said he earned all A’s and one B in his first semester and doubted he would have worked as hard had the classes been…
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Are normal adults not "working" in a similar way to your kid for 15+ hours per weekday?Comparable adult parent things would be up at 6am, prep kids for school day, in the office by 8am, 8 hours of work plus a lunch, departing the office around 5pm, transporting kids to/from some activities, dinner, helping kids with homework, somehow fit in…
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Personally, I don't blame her if she checks out for a few weeks. Or a semester.Nor would I, but I'd also accept that she did so and failed a few classes.Just like I did in the 90s. Although in my case it wasn't burn-out, but system shock at actually having to try to get good grades (Fairfax County PS then UVA).Did that bombed first semester…
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I wouldn't blame her but anyone who has to check out should just fail.This is about gunning for the elite/upper echelons of society. Doing that requires working like a dog not just for 2 years of high school and 4 years of college, but for likely several decades after.It's totally fine if not everyone can do it and that more people try than…
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The stated reason for doing this seems suspicious. A pass/fail dynamic would likely maintain student anxiety, if not increase it.What I think is more likely is that this move will help them hire less qualified teachers and reduce administrative oversight as now they no longer have to worry about all the issues that come with grading, such as…
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This schedule is no different than my schedule from 30 years ago and I don't consider it problematic at all. You frame it as 15+ hour days by including all aspects of their day as "work" but no normal adult includes their workout time and their social engagements as part of their work day. Time spent in sports is fun, not work. If it is work, then…
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This has the knock-on effect that it becomes impossible to excel in your first semester.Both of my kids worked hard and were prepared for college, and they did very well their first years, as they were used to the pace and level of information. It's something they are proud of, and it gave them confidence in their future lives. By eliminating the…
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To those saying this is soft: https://registrar.mit.edu/classes-grades-evaluations/grades/...If you want to say MIT is soft. Feel free.