University of Virginia Library

Begins Next Year

Pass-Fail System Instituted
By Yale University Faculty

NEW HAVEN (CPS) — The
Yale University faculty has
voted to replace numerical grading
with a system under which
students will be given one of
four designations for their work
—fail, pass, high pass or honors.

The new system will begin next
year and continue on an experimental
basis for at least five
years.

Yale's present system makes
use of a grading scale from 40
to 100, with 60 as the lowest
passing grade. The university at
present compiles cumulative
averages for each student, but
it will no longer do so when the
new system goes into effect.

The change at Yale is largely
the result of recommendations
made by the faculty's Course of
Study Committee, according to
Strobe Talbott, chairman of the
Yale Daily News. Some student
organizations have been working
to end the numerical system,
however.

Derek Shearer, head of the
Student Advisory Board, said
the new system "moves away
from the pseudo-scientific claims
of the numbers system." He
added that "It should make for
an improved class atmosphere,
for there will be no more quibbling
about numbers. There
would, I hope, be more concern
for the quality of a student's
work in terms of his own ability."

When students apply to graduate
school in the future, according
to Mr. Talbott, "recommendations
are going to be much
more important than they have
been. Graduate schools are going
to have to look much more
closely at what faculty members
say about a student's work."

The new system is also likely
to end the campus-wide competition
for grades. A student's performance
will be compared with
the performance of other students
in his department. At present,
Mr. Talbott pointed out, students
are ranked by grade average
in spite of the fact that
some departments give generally
higher grades than others.