College Without Grades

At a recent meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the value of using grades at colleges was hotly debated. The informal consensus was that the grading system used today (A-F) is not working. Issues like inflation and the belief that “grades create a facade of coherence” plague traditional grading in the university setting.

Some smaller institutions like New College in Florida claim to have a solution. New College promotes students working out a contract with a faculty advisor each semester. The contract covers definitions for success in each individual course. Professors then contribute to this contract.

New College is just one of several smaller universities experimenting with new evaluation systems that do not rely on grading. While the idea of a grade-free university may seem inspiring, it has yet to expand to larger schools. But, alternative systems like the one used at New College may represent the future of grading