Boston University’s College of Communication rolled out a new grading policy for the 2025-26 academic year, making it the second school at Boston University to adopt a standardized scale alongside the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.
Previously, professors could assign letter grades to any numerical value. Now, they must follow a uniform scale across all COM classes, with an A requiring at least a 94%.
Anne Danehy, COM’s senior associate dean of academic affairs, said the policy is meant to provide students with a consistent grading experience.
“87 could be a B in one class. You take another class, you get an 87, and it’s a B plus,” Danehy said.
COM professors carried out a Qualtrics survey to compare two proposed grading scales. The final vote count determined the grading scale all professors would adopt.
However, some students are unhappy with the scale and believe an A should reflect the more universally adopted 93%.
Sophomore Sabrina Benedetti is unhappy with the shift, as it may give more people bad grades.
“We should make a 93 consistent across all the classes,” Benedetti said. “Most classes at BU, it is a 93 anyway, so if you want to use the consistency argument, make that consistent.”
But not all students agree. Others believe the stricter grading scale better prepares them for the competitive demands of the working world.
“These classes are trying to help people become the best professionals they can be,” said Aidan Wohl, a first-year master’s student. “Upping these standards will get the best output.”
However, Wohl disagrees with applying the same scale across COM.
Grades “should be unique to each class depending on how rigorous each course is,” he said.
Some students are also concerned that stricter grading could limit creativity.
Sarah Hamilton, a first-year graduate student in the TV management program, said students want to ensure they are “doing everything technically right” — but that “isn’t really the goal” of many COM projects.
She said students may become “too worried about stepping outside of the box” because they want to get a good grade.
Over the summer, the COM faculty agreed on the policy over three meetings, but some still have their own reservations.
William McKeen, professor and former chair of the Journalism Department, “hates grading” altogether and believes assigning value to a student’s work distracts from the learning process.
“People end up thinking about the grade more than the information and the knowledge,”
he said.
Regardless, COM upholds its decision to bring an equal playing field to its students.
“We’re not telling faculty how to grade,” Danehy said. “We want consistency and uniformity to help students.”