They probably mean well – and you know what the road to h*ll is paved with – but a new move by the University of Michigan is going to backfire spectacularly because coddling young adults is never the right thing to do.
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UMich recently announced that they’re going all-out to “curb” mental health issues in the incoming freshmen class, and they will do that by abolishing the first-semester grades for those enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. And that’s likely going to be a good number of kids in the class of 2030 because that encompasses students who have yet to pick a major.
Now, the college is parsing this much differently, claiming they will “cover” the grades from the students. The grades will still count, but the kids will never see them and they won’t be a part of their first-semester GPAs.
The University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) will stop reporting traditional letter grades on first-semester transcripts for incoming freshmen beginning in Fall 2027, replacing them with “pass” or “no credit” designations as part of a pilot program aimed at reducing student stress and curbing a “mental health crisis”.
Students will still earn letter grades and receive instructor feedback in every course. However, those grades will remain internal, will not appear on official transcripts, and will not affect first-semester GPAs.
The college is apparently convinced that shielding freshmen from their grades will help the students as they transition to living away from home and adjust to the challenges of campus life. You know, that thing that millions of us have done before that didn’t kill us? (Although, having to fess up to your parents about your very first college GPA could scare the life out of you.)
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”We believe that covering grades will help students start strong and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals,” the LSA policy page states.
Oh wow 😬
University of Michigan will HIDE first-semester grades on transcripts for students in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
It’s to “curb the mental health crisis”
AND
The policy is mandatory for all students bc “covering an individual’s grades will… pic.twitter.com/YJylVbIjYf
— Neetu Arnold (@neetu_arnold) August 6, 2026
Oh wow 😬
University of Michigan will HIDE first-semester grades on transcripts for students in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
It’s to “curb the mental health crisis”
AND
The policy is mandatory for all students bc “covering an individual’s grades will inadvertently become equated w/them not doing well in a class”
This will not produce the desired results. Kids who arrive on campus mentally unwell will remain mentally unwell despite their GPAs. Kids who get sad at having to adjust to a new way of life are not mentally unwell, they’re just sad. They’ll get over it. The “sink or swim” principle works every time.
You know what will cause mental illness? Kids with expensive college degrees that are wholly unprepared to compete in the real world because some university administrators – and you just know they’re all liberal white women – opted to baby them instead of educating them.
There’s nothing worse for one’s mental health than being an adult loser.
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And here’s the thing: this has been tried before and failed.
For all those who see “covering grades” on transcripts as helping first-year students:
In 2016, Johns Hopkins reversed its 40+-year policy bc it did more harm than good
– Delayed students from adapting to college-level work
-Could place students at a disadvantage when applying… https://t.co/OJK9wE6guk pic.twitter.com/bdF1k4KPw4
— Neetu Arnold (@neetu_arnold) August 6, 2026
For all those who see “covering grades” on transcripts as helping first-year students:
In 2016, Johns Hopkins reversed its 40+-year policy bc it did more harm than good
– Delayed students from adapting to college-level work
-Could place students at a disadvantage when applying to grad school/jobs
Michigan can hide the grades, but it won’t be able to hide the consequences. Sooner or later, these students will be out in the world and will get smacked in the face by reality – and they won’t know what to do. But, hey, it won’t be the college’s responsibility anymore, they’ll be too busy scheming ways to infantilize the next incoming class.
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