University of Michigan Grade Covering Policy: LSA Pilot

University of Michigan grade covering policy: what LSA freshmen need to know before fall 2027

Incoming first-year students in the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) will see their first-semester grades handled differently starting in fall 2027. Instructors will still assign standard A-F letter grades, and students will know exactly what they earned, but under the new University of Michigan grade covering policy, those grades won't count toward GPA or appear as letter grades on the official transcript, ABC News reported two days ago. What the university hasn't clarified is exactly how the notation will display on transcripts, or whether a non-passing result still costs a student course credit.

The pilot will apply to roughly 3,500 incoming first-year students across more than 80 majors, according to ABC News. It won't reach freshmen entering Michigan's other 18 schools and colleges, including the Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering.

Who the fall 2027 grade covering pilot applies to

The pilot is scoped to one college and one semester. It covers incoming LSA first-year students during their first semester only, and it doesn't extend to freshmen entering Michigan's other schools, ABC News reports.

Because the pilot is LSA-specific, two Michigan freshmen starting the same term, one enrolled in LSA and one elsewhere, will face different grading treatment for the exact same courses this fall. Whether coursework taken outside LSA counts toward the pilot for joint-major, dual-degree, or cross-college students isn't addressed in the available reporting. Students in those situations have a real reason to ask before locking in a fall schedule.

How the covered semester actually works

Faculty evaluation doesn't stop under this policy. Instructors still submit a normal A-F grade for every student, and students still find out what they earned, ABC News reports. What changes is whether that grade automatically becomes a permanent entry on the GPA and transcript.

In effect, the pilot makes something close to pass/no-credit grading the default for LSA freshmen during their first semester, without removing the letter grade a student actually earns from view. That distinction matters for a simple reason: a student's own record of that grade doesn't disappear just because the transcript won't show it. Students who want to reference a strong first-semester performance later, for a scholarship application, a transfer, or a conversation with a graduate program down the road, should hold onto the grade an instructor reports, since the official transcript alone won't preserve it.

Why Michigan is covering first-semester grades

The college said the change is meant to help students adjust, describing the goal as fostering an environment where students can acclimate to the demands of a University of Michigan education and pursue new academic challenges, ABC News reports.

Peterson, quoted by ABC News discussing the policy, said mental health is a real problem for undergraduates in Michigan "as it is across higher education," and called first-year students "in a particularly precarious position" as they juggle new jobs, new independence, and unfamiliar coursework, ABC News reports.

Peterson framed the policy as part of a broader institutional obligation: "Whatever we can do in terms of policy to enable our students to thrive in a difficult and challenging world that bears on their mental health profoundly, I think that's very much the right thing for us to do." The stated goal is to give students "the space they need to figure it out," so that even students who arrive less prepared "can get up to speed in their first year and succeed thereafter," according to Peterson's comments to ABC News.

Michigan isn't the first school to try this. Caltech, MIT, Swarthmore, and Wellesley all run comparable first-year grade-covering policies, ABC News reports, though the reporting doesn't detail how those policies affect credit or transcripts, or how closely their academic structures compare to a large public flagship like Michigan.

What Michigan hasn't confirmed

Michigan declined to answer follow-up questions about how the pilot will work in practice, ABC News reports. Several operational details remain open as a result.

The reporting says grades will show up as "Pass" or "No Credit," but doesn't establish whether the transcript will display P/NC in place of the letter grade, omit the semester entirely, or use some other notation. It also doesn't say whether a "No Credit" result earns any degree credit, or whether courses required for a major, minor, or language requirement will be excluded from the covering. None of that has been addressed on the record beyond the initial report.

That gap matters more than it might seem. A grade that doesn't count toward GPA is one kind of policy; a grade that also doesn't count toward degree credit, meaning a student would need to retake the course, is a very different one. Until LSA says which applies, students shouldn't assume either answer.

What LSA students should verify before fall 2027 registration

Until LSA publishes implementation guidance, the questions below remain open. Incoming LSA first-year students and families should raise them directly with the relevant office before registering for fall 2027.

• How will the covered semester display on the official transcript, and will it show P/NC notations, an omitted grade, or something else? That's a question for the Office of the Registrar.
• Does a "No Credit" result under the pilot earn course credit toward degree requirements? Confirm with LSA advising, in writing if possible, since it affects how quickly a student stays on pace toward graduation.
• Are major, minor, or language-requirement courses excluded from the covering, or does it apply to every course on a first-semester schedule? Also a question for LSA advising.
• Students pursuing retroactive language credit through AP, IB, or a placement exam should ask whether a covered course affects that eligibility, since LSA's language credit rules can hinge on how a course is graded.
• Students with a scholarship or financial aid package tied to GPA or credit completion should confirm with the financial aid office how satisfactory academic progress will be measured during a covered semester, since current reporting doesn't address it.

The available reporting doesn't include detailed LSA implementation guidance yet. Until the college releases it, treat the transcript notation, the credit question, and any course exclusions as open items rather than settled facts, and confirm each one directly with the offices listed above before registering for fall 2027.