Failing isn’t an option.
University of Michigan’s liberal arts college said grades for incoming freshman during their first semester will be hidden and excluded from their transcripts to “curb the mental health crisis” among students.
Starting this fall, the public research university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will grade freshmen in their first semester solely on a pass/no credit basis instead of letter grades, the school announced in a statement.
The LSA college, the largest of the university’s 19 colleges, said that students will still know their grades and receive feedback from professors, but their grades won’t be factored into their GPAs.
Transcripts will simply state that all first semester courses were automatically pass/no credit.
Their true grades will be internally recorded for academic awards, scholarships, internships, academic advising, professional opportunities, and if a student is switching to a major outside of the LSA college. Students in the LSA college will start seeing their grades recorded in their transcripts and reflected in their GPAs in their second semester, the college noted.
“Helping all students establish early momentum has been recognized as the most important element in U-M’s campus-wide Student Success Initiative,” the college wrote.
“We believe that covering grades will help students start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals.”
The LSA college, which has nearly 20,000 students, claimed this program will support students’ well-being and foster collaboration instead of competition.
Similar programs have also been adopted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Swarthmore College and Wellesley College.
Experts warned the policy just coddles students.
“We’ve gotten to the point where normal stress is being treated like a mental health problem. Getting a bad grade is disappointing. It can be embarrassing. It can make you anxious. But that doesn’t make it psychologically harmful,” Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, the author of “Therapy Nation,” told The Post.
“College should prepare studentsfor adulthood. Your boss isn’t going to hide a bad performance review because it might make you anxious. Life doesn’t come with grade covering. At some point, young people have to learn that feeling bad is not the same thing as being harmed.”
The LSA college did not immediately return a request for comment.
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