Making the Grade

HLS's grading system emerged as the major student concern in the study. While Yale Law School uses an expanded pass/fail system, HLS has always chosen to give students letter grades ranging from A+ to F.

"The McKinsey [report] persuaded more people to be interested in this issue," Warren says. "I think my committee is enthusiastic about making significant changes in the grading system."

ILC is considering a proposal that would eliminate letter grades and move to pass/fail in the first semester of law school and then fail/low pass/pass/high pass for the following semesters, according to a source close to the law school.

The grade system would operate on a fixed curve, with about 10 to 20 percent of students receiving a high pass, the same percentage a low pass and the majority a pass, the source says.

The system at Yale is slightly different. Students receive honors/pass/low pass/ failing grade, but all first year students are graded solely on a pass/fail scale.

Second-year HLS student Justin S. Cooper, who is a member of ILC, says there are several reasons for not considering extending the simple pass/fail grading to the entire first year.

"If students don't know how to take a law school exam, [a pass-fail system] can take a lot of pressure off," Cooper says. But, he says, an entire year of pass/fail grades could put students at a disadvantage when they begin interviewing for jobs in the fall of their second year.