University of Michigan Dumbed Down America—Now It’s Abolishing Grades

The University of Michigan’s largest undergraduate unit, the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), announced a pilot program starting in fall 2027 where incoming freshmen will receive “Pass” or “No Credit” on external transcripts for their first semester instead of letter grades.

Freshmen get ‘pass’ or ‘no credit’—no real grades required. In other words, they are producing Democrats.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN JUST WENT FULL PARTICIPATION TROPHY

Incoming students will no longer get real grades.

Just “Pass” or “No Credit.”

All in the name of “mental health.”

No more A’s. No more F’s. No distinction between the kid who worked his ass off and the one who barely showed up.

They’re turning a competitive university into expensive daycare.

In a world where kids from other countries are grinding for every point, Michigan just decided effort doesn’t matter.

Soft school. Soft standards. Soft future.

This is how you raise a generation that can’t handle reality.

University of Michigan to nix letter grades for many first-semester students

By Max Rego, The Hill, August 6, 2026:

The University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and Arts (LSA) will get rid of final letter grades for first-semester students starting in fall 2027.

The college unveiled the change on its website, saying it will designate all first-year LSA students with pass or no credit on their first-semester transcripts. Those students will still receive letter grades and feedback from instructors, the announcement noted.

The change is intended to help first-term students “establish early momentum” and “curb the mental health crisis unfolding” among college students.

“Our goal is to help first-year students acclimate to the demands of college and allow intrinsic motivations to guide personally meaningful academic journeys—core elements of a liberal arts and sciences education,” the announcement stated. “For example, they can explore a subject that may not come easily to them or take a course in a new field without the fear that a low grade may have long-term consequences.”

Eighteen percent of college students reported severe depression symptoms in the 2024-25 Healthy Minds Study — which is administered by the Healthy Minds Network at Michigan’s flagship university — marking the third straight year of decline.

Justin Heinze, an associate professor at the university’s School of Public Health, noted the reductions are “not a blip.”

Heinze said, “Whether it’s distance from the pandemic, better institutional support, or something else driving the change, I think this is a promising counternarrative to what seems like constant headlines around young people’s struggles with mental health.”

All first-year LSA students will be enrolled in the program, with the college noting an “opt-in” program would “defeat the purpose of facilitating students’ transition to campus,” supporting their mental health and motivating them to learn.

“If covered grades are optional, covering an individual’s grades will inadvertently become equated with them not doing well in a class,” the announcement added.

New transfer students will not be eligible for the program, while the university will maintain final grades internally for athletic eligibility, compliance reporting and students’ eligibility for financial aid, among other purposes.

The LSA college is the largest at Michigan, with 19,733 undergraduates and 3,521 first-year students enrolled as of the fall of 2025. As of last fall, roughly 35,300 undergraduates were enrolled at the university, which the U.S. News & World Report ranks as the third-best public institution in the country.

Michigan is not alone in eliminating letter grades for first-semester students. Since 1968, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has assigned pass or no credit grades during first-year fall and letter grades in the spring.

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Pamela Geller

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