Harvard May Phase Out Pass-Fail Option for General Education Courses

Students may lose the option to count General Education courses toward their graduation requirements if they are taken pass-fail, Harvard College’s Program in General Education confirmed Wednesday.

Currently, students across the College must take General Education courses across four categories. Though three of the four must be taken for a letter grade, students can opt to take one course pass-fail.

Laura E. Hess, the co-director of the program, wrote in a statement Wednesday that the Standing Committee on General Education unanimously decided last spring to eliminate that option.

Still, the proposal will face a series of votes before it becomes official policy: it will be reviewed by the Standing Committee on Undergraduate Educational Policy and the Faculty Council before coming to a final vote of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Because of the procedural hurdles facing the proposal, it is unclear whether it will go into effect before the end of the academic year.

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo declined to comment for this article.

The syllabus for Gen Ed 1025: “Happiness,” taught by Philosophy professor Susanna Rinard, initially stated that students would not be able to fulfill the Ethics & Civics General Education requirement by taking the course pass-fail.

A teaching fellow for the class sent out an announcement to students correcting the syllabus in late August.

“This is incorrect; although there are plans for the near future to prevent students from using courses taken pass/fail to fullfill Gen Ed requirements, doing so is still allowed by current policies,” the announcement read.

Rinard said that when she created the syllabus for her course, she “had been under the misimpression that a policy change had already taken place” but later discovered that it was not in effect.

The proposed change comes at a time when faculty are increasingly concerned about the College’s curriculum becoming too lax. In recent years, professors have debated tightening undergraduate language requirements and sounded the alarm about grade inflation at Harvard.

Alexa R. Muller ’28 said that the proposed change could affect students taking more difficult classes, “especially with Gen Eds being a lighter load for most students.”

“I think the more options, the better,” Muller said, adding the pass-fail option is valuable for students who are “engaged in a course and are wanting to take it, but aren’t willing to dedicate the time” to taking it for a letter grade.

Rinard — who, like all tenured professors, will have the chance to vote on the proposal before it is finalized — said she is of a split mind about its utility.

“On the one hand, we don’t want students to be under undue stress and pressure. We want them to be able to enjoy the learning experience,” Rinard said. “On the other hand, we want students to put in the time and effort required.”

“So the question is, how best to do that?” she added.

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mnamponsah.

—Staff writer Joyce E. Kim can be reached at joyce.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @joycekim324.