College Should Be Tough. Michigan's Grade Plan Coddles Students

It’s been more than 20 years, but I can still feel the shock of seeing the letter “F” on my first college English test. 

It was a serious blow to my pride. Worse, it threatened the scholarships I needed to afford college, as they depended on a solid GPA. 

I was a freshman at Hillsdale College, a liberal arts school in Michigan, and English had always been my strongest subject. I felt confident about my abilities. 

When I showed up later that day in my professor’s office (yes, I cried), I discovered that I had completely missed an important page of the exam. Rather than let me redo the test, he kindly yet firmly told me I had plenty of time to make up for the bad grade.