University of Michigan to hide letter grades from first-year transcripts in 2027. Here's what to know.

Weeks after the University of Michigan made headlines with its plan to keep letter grades from appearing on the transcripts of some first-year students — and from affecting their GPAs — the decision continues to stir debate. Critics have accused the prestigious school of shielding students from reality and warned the move could backfire; The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed on the policy headlined "Coddle U."

But on a recent day on the Ann Arbor campus, students expressed cautious optimism. They agreed that the transition to college can be difficult, but several said they were uncertain whether they wanted "pass" and "no credit" marks to replace traditional letter grades on their transcripts. Students will still know what grade they actually received in a given class — the grade simply won't appear on the transcript or count toward GPA.

U-M says the goal of withholding first-semester letter grades from transcripts is to "foster an environment where college students can acclimate to the demands of a University of Michigan education and pursue new academic challenges." The university is still working out details of the pilot program, which is slated to begin in fall 2027 with first-year, first-semester students in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) — the university's largest school, accounting for more than half of undergraduate enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus.

Tim McKay, LSA's associate dean for undergraduate education, said the program has two main goals: encouraging academic exploration and improving student mental health.

"We need to give them a space to get used to the reality that we're going to be asking them to do very difficult things that might go beyond what they were used to," McKay said. "We want that to happen in a way which is safe enough that they'll come through it strong — rather than feeling like it's suddenly they've had something permanent and very consequential happen to them."

McKay added that it's important for students to build early momentum toward completing their degree.

Students weigh in

Bridge Michigan spoke with several U-M students about the policy. Many said they supported giving students more leeway as they adjust to college-level expectations.

"You're still seeing the grades, so you can really keep track of your progress, figuring out what works," said Adriana Yost, a sophomore studying small business management on the Dearborn campus. "But at the same time, you know in the back of your head: If I really do mess up, and if I try something and it really doesn't work for me, it's not going to affect me long-term in the future."

Others raised concerns about how the policy would work in practice, and whether concealing grades could hurt students applying for internships or graduate school.

"I understand the idea that they're trying to take stress off of people that are coming straight into the school," said Connor Olsen, a junior studying business. "However, I do think there's going to come a time where they're going to matter. And it's partially prolonging the inevitable that these grades are going to count, and you really do need to lock in your study schedule and figure out how to go to office hours — all these things that really count in your university experience."

The pilot has also drawn national criticism, including accusations that the university is coddling students — a characterization McKay rejects outright. The debate comes as Michigan policymakers separately weigh proposals to better prepare high school students for life after graduation.

Venessa Keesler, CEO and president of Launch Michigan, a bipartisan group working to overhaul the state's high school graduation requirements, said it's notable that similar conversations about the value of grades are happening at the college level.

"Education in general is saying kids can get all A's and not be ready," Keesler said. "So why not? It shifts the conversation to demonstrating mastery of skills, mastery of knowledge, mastery of competencies."

What to know about the pilot

Does the policy apply only to first-year, first-semester students in LSA? Yes.

Can transfer students take part? No. Transfer students are not eligible, according to the LSA website.

Will strong first-semester grades still help a student's GPA later on? McKay said the school is still finalizing details, but it's unlikely first-semester grades will factor into a student's GPA at all — even if those grades are good. "We're trying to say that we think the best summary of your experience on campus would not focus on your first semester, but would include the other grades that you have," he said. McKay acknowledged that transcripts matter for graduate school applications, but argued it's more important how students perform in upper-level courses. "We want to make sure that no one is, or even feels, harmed by this," he said, adding that LSA will iron out specifics over the coming school year. Keesler noted that graduate programs also weigh standardized test scores, and employers typically use transcripts only to confirm a student completed their degree. "I have said to my kids more than once that their bachelor's degree is less about the grades and more about persistence," she said.

How many students will the policy affect? That depends on the size of the incoming class. For context, nearly 5,000 students are entering LSA in fall 2026, according to McKay.

How will U-M measure whether the pilot is working? McKay said the school will track two things: academic exploration and student mental health. On the academic side, administrators can measure how many classes students take, whether there's greater variety in course selection, and whether students are "acquiring the kind of early momentum that we know leads to on-time graduation and better academic performance." Metrics for mental health are still being worked out, though McKay pointed to the Healthy Minds Study, a national survey of college student mental health, as a likely reference point.

Reaction from students and educators

National surveys have found a rising share of undergraduates report emotional stress and mental health struggles severe enough that many have considered dropping out. Sophia Xu, a microbiology and pre-med senior, said she's glad the university is paying attention to student mental health — but questioned whether the policy solves the underlying problem. "I think that making the first semester pass/fail just shifts this issue onto winter semester," she said. "Because then winter semester is when people are going to be freaking out, like, 'Oh, I actually have to try super hard now to maintain my GPA.'"

Students on campus also noted that under the new policy, an A would count the same as a C on a first-semester transcript. Lily Wu, an economics and international studies senior, called the policy "a little too lenient," suggesting the university instead eliminate the A- grade so that an A- and an A carry equal weight — an alternative way to ease pressure on students.

Thomas Guskey, professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky's College of Education who studies grading policy, called U-M's approach "thoughtful." "They're saying, let's focus on learning instead of getting grades in the first year," he said. "We'll set a pass/fail level. We'll set the pass pretty high for it, so the students aren't lackadaisical in what they're doing. But then be able to approach this in a more reasonable and thoughtful and more educationally sound way."

Guskey pointed to U-M's 97% retention rate for full-time first-year students returning as sophomores as evidence that students are enrolling "for educational reasons, not for money reasons."

Still, Guskey said broader conversations are needed about the value and meaning of grades generally — debates playing out elsewhere too, including at Harvard, where faculty recently voted to cap the number of A grades awarded to undergraduates amid similar concerns that grades have stopped meaning much. He argued U-M should ensure faculty grade students on what they're able to achieve, rather than on their performance relative to peers. McKay, for his part, acknowledged that grades still carry real weight across the university system. "We rely on these grades for many purposes, including things like financial aid and measuring a student's progress toward a degree," he said. "So we're not interested in trying to unsettle the entire system. We just want to change the reaction that people have to the system."

Denise Brown, a high school math teacher at Redford Union Schools, said the deeper issue lies upstream, in the need for more academic rigor in high school. "Even though they may have been the top student at their high school, it depends on how the curriculum has been taught," she said. "Most of the time it is not up to the level that it should be, because students are very focused on grades."

Brown said she supports U-M's policy, provided the university has the resources to help students succeed once they receive feedback from professors. "I hope it's setting the expectations for the students to know that you're in a different environment, and the expectations are now different — and now you have to prepare yourself."