Law School Considers New Grade Scale

Columbia Law School’s grading system may be up for a makeover.

The news that Harvard and Stanford Law Schools are revamping their own grading systems has sparked a series of discussions over whether it is time for Columbia Law School to follow suit. There is currently greater support among students for the existing grading system than for the systems recently adopted at Harvard and Stanford.

Yale, Harvard, and Stanford Law Schools’ grading systems consist of three passing grades—Honorary/High Pass, Pass, and Restricted Credit/Low Pass—and one failing grade, No Credit/Fail. None of the grades are modified by pluses or minuses. On the other hand, Columbia Law School’s grading system constitutes of five letter grades, all of which are modified by pluses and minuses.

Columbia Law School has lower curves compared to neighboring law schools. For example, at NYU, 31 percent of an average class will receive A-range grades, and only six percent will receive below a B-. Columbia’s figures, meanwhile, are 24 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Prior to 1994, Columbia had a system much like the one Harvard and Stanford have adopted. During this period, Columbia had five grades—excellent, very good, good, pass, and unsatisfactory. According to David Schizer, dean of Columbia Law School, “students were concerned at the time that a system of this sort did not provide enough information.” Columbia instituted its current letter grade system largely in response to these complaints.

The grading system has a few unique features. Unlike the systems used at Harvard and Stanford, incoming students begin with an intensive three-week introduction to law known as Legal Methods, which is graded on a credit/fail standard. According to Schizer, “these elements of our system allow students to acclimate when they arrive without the pressure of letter grades and then to receive detailed and nuanced feedback from faculty in subsequent classes. We view these as important strengths of our current approach.”

Whichever decision the administration makes, some students feel the current grading system could bear some improvement. “In my experience, I would say that the student opinion is split. I do think actually that a lot of students complain about the system because it is arbitrary,” said Evie Spanos, a first-year law student at Columbia.

If the grading system does change, it will go into effect only after the current generation of law students at Columbia graduates. “This situation has an interesting dynamic,” Spanos said. “Whatever gets changed won’t affect the students here, so it is a question of whether current students would be willing to debate over an issue that won’t affect them.”

Columbia Law School has empaneled a faculty committee to consider the need for any refinements in the current grading policy. In a recent article entitled “Law School Grade Reform – Not So Fast,” Columbia Law School professor Katherine M. Franke wrote that “the Columbia faculty is considering alternatives to the Yale, Stanford, Harvard model— perhaps making the first semester of the first year pass/fail or increasing the number of courses overall that students may take pass/fail.”

Given the importance of grades, the law school is approaching the subject very carefully. “Our process of deliberation on the issue is not yet complete, and we will continue to solicit student and faculty input,” Schizer said.