{"id":8032,"date":"2026-08-12T17:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8032"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:08:36","slug":"university-of-michigan-wont-use-letter-grades-for-some-freshmen-next-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8032","title":{"rendered":"University of Michigan won’t use letter grades for some freshmen next fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The University of Michigan is trying a new approach to curb the mental health crisis among college-age students: covering freshmen’s letter grades during their first semester.<\/p>\n

Read more Greetings from a surreal expanse of sand dunes dotted with freshwater lagoons in Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting in fall 2027, students entering the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will receive pass or no-credit marks on their transcripts for the first semester, instead of traditional letter grades. Their actual grades will still be kept internally.<\/p>\n

The university says the pilot program is intended to ease academic pressure, helping freshmen adjust to college and help them “start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals.”<\/p>\n

Shea Vance, a reporting fellow for , told NPR’s Leila Fadel that Michigan doesn’t want a tough first semester to send students into a spiral \u2014 or make them think a C or D has ruined their chances of a good GPA, graduate school or a job.<\/p>\n

Read more Inflation eases in July as gasoline and grocery prices fall<\/a><\/p>\n

The university also hopes the policy will encourage students to try harder subjects without worrying as much about grades.<\/p>\n

But Vance says some teaching and learning experts worry the change could demotivate freshmen or add to grade inflation. Others see it as part of a bigger question about whether colleges are moving away from grading for excellence and toward grading for competency.<\/p>\n

Similar policies exist at a small group of schools, including MIT, which has used one for incoming freshmen since 1968.<\/p>\n

Read more His wedding guests gave $6k to fund a health startup. Now it\u2019s won a $3 million prize<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview by clicking the play button above.<\/p>\n

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NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks with Shea Vance of the Chronicle of Higher Education about a University of Michigan plan to forgo letter grades for some freshmen in their fall 2027 semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nUniversity of Michigan won't use letter grades for some freshmen next fall - Best USA Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8032\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"University of Michigan won't use letter grades for some freshmen next fall - Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Shea Vance of the Chronicle of Higher Education about a University of Michigan plan to forgo letter grades for some freshmen in their fall 2027 semester.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8032\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T17:08:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40\"},\"headline\":\"University of Michigan won’t use letter grades for some freshmen next fall\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T17:08:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032\"},\"wordCount\":299,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/f9bcdeccf60571fc4d400bbb9672a17c-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032\",\"name\":\"University of Michigan won't use letter grades for some freshmen next fall - Best USA Movers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/f9bcdeccf60571fc4d400bbb9672a17c-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T17:08:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3f4fef4452a41b72c331a70422221f40\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/?p=8032#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/f9bcdeccf60571fc4d400bbb9672a17c-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bestusamoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/f9bcdeccf60571fc4d400bbb9672a17c-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - APRIL 3: University of Michigan students walk on the UM campus on April 3, 2025 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 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