If you are the parent of a high school student who has spent years working toward college admission, you’ve probably heard the message loud and clear: work hard, earn good grades, and your effort will pay off.

So what happens when a university tells students that their grades during the first semester won’t count toward their GPA and won’t appear as traditional letter grades on their transcripts?

That is exactly what the University of Michigan freshman grades policy will do.

Beginning in fall 2027, the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) will launch a first-semester “grade covering” pilot for incoming first-year students. Instead of having traditional letter grades appear on their transcripts, students will receive either a P (Pass) or NC (No Credit) for their first-semester courses. Their actual grades will still be assigned by professors, and students will receive feedback on their academic performance, but those grades will not be included in the student’s GPA or appear on the external transcript.

The university says the goal is to help freshmen adjust to college, reduce academic pressure and encourage students to explore subjects without worrying that one bad grade will permanently affect their academic record.

And I understand the reasoning.

The transition from high school to college can be brutal.

Students go from having parents, teachers and counselors reminding them about assignments and deadlines to suddenly being responsible for managing their own lives. They are juggling roommates, laundry, meals, social lives, jobs, activities and an entirely different level of academic independence.

But as a parent, I can’t help asking another question:

What happens to the student who actually wants to earn an A?