The University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts paused its freshman grade-covering plan on September 29, 2026, after national media backlash. The policy — which would have replaced first-semester letter grades with "P" or "NC" on official transcripts starting fall 2027 — is on hold indefinitely. Students would still have received actual grades from professors; only the transcript entry was changing. For now, students entering Michigan in fall 2027 should plan as if standard letter grades will count.

Less than two months after announcing it, the University of Michigan put its most-talked-about academic experiment on hold.

On September 29, 2026, U-M Provost Domenico Grasso directed the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts to suspend its planned "grade covering" pilot program. The pilot had been set to launch with fall 2027 freshmen and would have kept first-semester letter grades off official transcripts, replacing them with "P" (pass) or "NC" (no credit) marks instead.1

Grasso said the pause would "allow for more input, analysis and discussion before any further steps are taken." He also pushed back on how the plan had been covered in the press, saying that reporting included "distorted narratives about the university's intentions and about the academic strength and resilience of its students." He worried students could be unfairly portrayed as "coddled or unprepared for a rigorous U-M education."2

What the policy actually said

Before this gets lost in the noise, it's worth being precise about what grade covering actually proposed — because much of the coverage got it wrong.

Under the original LSA plan, freshmen would have:

  • Still received traditional letter grades from every professor
  • Still had those grades tracked internally for advising purposes
  • Not seen letter grades on their official external transcript

The transcript would show "P" or "NC." The internal grade would still exist. The GPA clock would start in the second semester.

What changed was only what appeared on the piece of paper employers, graduate schools, and transfer institutions see. Students were not being graded pass/fail — they were being graded normally, with results withheld from the official record for one semester.

That distinction got almost completely lost in the backlash.

Why the backlash hit so hard

Critics framed it as coddling. The phrase "hidden grades" circulated widely. Commentators argued Michigan was lowering standards for students they saw as overly fragile.

Supporters countered that first-semester mental health pressure is genuinely severe, and that giving students a low-stakes environment to adjust before grades start mattering to graduate school admissions is backed by student success research. For current data on what college students are actually facing, our 2026 mental health roundup covers the numbers.

Neither side had much time to make their case. The announcement came in August. The pause came six weeks later.

The pause is not a cancellation. Grasso explicitly called this a pause for "more input and discussion" — not a reversal. The policy could still move forward for fall 2027 freshmen. If you're an incoming student who was counting on grade covering, do not assume this is resolved.

What it means if you're applying to Michigan

If you're a high school junior or senior with U-M on your list, this matters. Right now there is no grade-covering policy in effect, and there won't be unless Michigan formally announces one.

Until then, first-semester grades count, your GPA matters, and the first-year adjustment pressure that the grade-covering plan was designed to ease remains unchanged. Our freshman year guide covers how to manage that pressure without a policy cushion — and it's worth reading before you arrive anywhere, not just Michigan.

If mental health support infrastructure matters to your college search, look at what counseling resources Michigan offers directly. Don't count on a policy to handle that piece.

Similar grade forgiveness and first-semester pass/fail policies exist at dozens of smaller schools with almost no controversy — they've just never been tested at a major flagship. If you want a school where first-semester grades carry less transcript weight, ask each school about its academic forgiveness or fresh-start policies directly. Many offer them on request.

What happens next

Michigan has not set a timeline for when the review will conclude. LSA is the university's largest college, and Grasso's statement suggested the decision to pause came from the provost's office rather than LSA leadership — a detail that may explain why the announcement moved so quickly after launch.

Students who enrolled at Michigan under the assumption that this policy would be in place for fall 2027 should contact their admissions counselor or academic advisor for current guidance.

For the original August announcement and what was actually proposed, see our initial coverage of the Michigan grade covering plan. For managing academic anxiety regardless of what any school's policy looks like, there are practical strategies that actually work.

Footnotes

  1. Detroit News. (2026, September 29). University of Michigan pauses grade covering program after pushback. Detroit News. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/09/29/grade-covering-no-grade-university-michigan-lsa-program-paused-pushback/92004340007/ ↩

  2. WEMU. (2026, September 29). U-M pauses plan for pass-no credit grade pilot. WEMU. https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-09-29/u-m-pauses-plan-for-pass-no-credit-grade-pilot ↩