First-semester grades won't count toward GPA for new LSA students at University of Michigan

The University of Michigan's largest undergraduate college will stop issuing letter grades to first-year students during their first semester, starting in fall 2027.

The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts announced the pilot program this week, saying it's designed to help incoming freshmen adjust to college-level coursework without the pressure of a grade affecting their GPA.

LSA is Michigan's largest college, enrolling more than 18,000 students across over 80 majors and minors.

Under the new policy, first-year LSA students will still receive traditional letter grades and instructor feedback for every course. But those grades won't appear on external transcripts or count toward GPA calculations. Instead, transcripts will show a "P" for pass or "NC" for no credit. Beginning in students' second semester, standard letter grades will resume and be reflected in their GPA for the remainder of their time at Michigan.

University officials say the university will still keep internal records of students' actual first-semester grades for uses such as academic advising, athletic eligibility, financial aid determinations, compliance reporting and consideration for scholarships or honors.

The change won't apply to transfer students or to freshmen enrolled in Michigan's other 18 colleges — only new LSA students will be automatically enrolled, with no opt-out option. LSA said an opt-in system would undermine the goal of reducing stigma, since a grade-covering option limited to some students could be seen as a signal that those students are struggling.

Michigan joins a small number of institutions that have adopted similar policies, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has covered first-semester freshman grades since 1968, along with the California Institute of Technology, Swarthmore College and Wellesley College.