The new pass/fail option for community colleges is controversial and will take time to determine if it will be a good or bad thing.
After reading some articles such as in the Los Angeles Times, perhaps this new option could be a good thing. COVID-19 has taken an extreme toll on college students including money, work ethic, and routine. Many students’ grades dropped because of the drastic change of having classes online and not being used to it. This is a huge problem because this affects their eligibility to transfer into a four-year institution. Not only this, but many have dealt with losing family and not being able to attend class, potentially getting dropped from a class that they needed to transfer, or needed for financial aid. The list could go on and on. These events have been happening to many students and many have chosen to drop out of college. On the other hand, it is good to see that the San Diego Community College District is trying to accommodate their students by taking action.
It is unknown what is to happen in the future, but for community colleges, this shows that the district actually does care about their students and are concerned.
A lot of the time during the pandemic, schools were unsure what to do when this was happening to their students, there were all different types of complaints going around with no solution other than “this is our world right now.”
I can’t tell you how many times my friends have told me “my grades are terrible right now and there’s nothing I can do to help it.” This grade option has made students feel a little bit of a relief that there are people that are making an effort to accommodate them in the midst of a pandemic. However, the negative side to this is that it can make students more lazy; some may choose to abuse it so that they don’t have to work as hard, where most students are making a hard effort to transfer.
Hopefully, this grade option will help students in their academic journey.
