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The University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) will stop recording letter grades on external transcripts for first-semester freshmen starting in fall 2027. Instead, incoming LSA students will receive a pass/no credit designation on their transcripts, a move the university says is intended to help address student mental health concerns and ease the transition into college life.
According to the college, this new grading approach aims to “curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals” and allow students to “establish early momentum.” The LSA is the largest of the university’s 19 colleges, with more than 18,000 students, and the policy will affect all new LSA freshmen, but not transfer students or those in other colleges. Students will still receive traditional letter grades and feedback from instructors internally, but these grades will not be used in GPA calculations or shared externally. The university will maintain internal records of these grades for purposes including athletic eligibility, compliance reporting, and financial aid. The college believes the policy will encourage academic exploration without fear of long-term consequences for lower grades.
LSA leaders say they considered but rejected an opt-in system, arguing that would stigmatize students who choose it and defeat the goal of supporting all first-year students equally. The change comes amid ongoing concern about mental health in higher education. Nationally, 18 percent of college students reported severe depression symptoms during the 2024–25 academic year, according to the Healthy Minds Study conducted at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.
While the University of Michigan is not the first to adopt a covered grades policy—other universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology have similar approaches for first-year students—such policies remain rare in the United States. MIT, for example, has used a pass/no credit system for first-semester freshmen since 1968, which it describes as a way to help students adjust to academic challenges.
The University of Michigan's decision follows similar moves taken by some institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, though most returned to traditional grading after.
The college will monitor the impact of the change on student performance, mental health, and overall academic environment before considering whether to make the policy permanent or extend it to other groups.