Making the (Letter) Grade: The Incentive Effects of Mandatory Pass/Fail Courses

Kristin Butcher, Patrick McEwan and Akila Weerapana

No 30798, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In Fall 2014, Wellesley College began mandating pass/fail grading for courses taken by first-year, first-semester students, although instructors continued to record letter grades. We identify the causal effect of the policy on course choice and performance, using a regression-discontinuity-in-time design. Students shifted to lower-grading STEM courses in the first semester, but did not increase their engagement with STEM in later semesters. Letter grades of first-semester students declined by 0.13 grade points, or 23% of a standard deviation. We evaluate causal channels of the grade effect—including sorting into lower-grading STEM courses and declining instructional quality—and conclude that the effect is consistent with declining student effort.

JEL-codes: I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-12
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Published as Kristin Butcher & Patrick J. McEwan & Akila Weerapana, 2024. "Making the (Letter) Grade: The Incentive Effects of Mandatory Pass/Fail Courses," Education Finance and Policy, vol 19(3), pages 385-408.

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Working Paper: Making the (Letter) Grade: The Incentive Effects of Mandatory Pass/Fail Courses (2022)
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