Despite the Pandemic, My College Is Allowing Grades. Isn’t That Unfair?

May 16, 2020

Illustration by Tomi Um

The Ethicist

Despite the Pandemic, My College Is Allowing Grades. Isn’t That Unfair?

The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on whether schools should adopt a policy of universal “credit/no credit” this semester — and more.

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

I am student at a New England liberal arts college that was considering a universal credit/no-credit grading policy in light of the inequalities wrought by the pandemic. Everyone has left campus, so all of the equalizing properties of a residential college are now gone, and students are experiencing lots of extra stress and trauma. Faculty ultimately voted down this universal standard in favor of an opt-in credit/no-credit option, a decision students suspect was influenced by the fact that colleges that have decided on universal pass/fail policies have been subject to lawsuits initiated by students who want either grades or refunds. It’s worth noting that the universal credit/no-credit proposal received overwhelming support from students versus the opt-in policy.

Given that graduate schools strongly prefer letter grades, I think that students should still elect the credit/no-credit option en masse, because if we do not all act in solidarity, only students who need the no-credit option will be harmed. I think it is morally wrong for privileged proponents of universal credit/no-credit to accept high grades this semester instead. My best friend disagrees. She says that, although it is a shame that universal credit/no-credit was not passed, students should still take the high grades and the attendant G.P.A. boost if they want to. What do you think?

Read the Ethicist’s response here.

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