Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272815 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. WP 2022-55
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago, IL
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 regressiondiscontinuity-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.
Subjects: 
Higher Education
Grading Policy
JEL: 
I23
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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