Columbia Business School (CBS) students recently voted to implement a grade nondisclosure policy, which will take effect on August 1, 2011. A record 91% of MBAs and EMBAs participated in the vote, with 77% of the student body opting to approve the nondisclosure of grades, GPAs, and transcripts to an employer until a student has accepted a full-time position with the employer. However, students are allowed to disclose the receipt of academic honors such as inclusion on the Dean’s List and membership in honor societies. Individual students still have the legal right to decide for themselves whether to disclose their grades, but the new norm at CBS will be for students to keep their grades private.
What the effect of this change will be on corporate recruiting at CBS is unclear, but the school’s students overwhelmingly supported the idea. The student body recently communicated the policy change to recruiters, indicating that they believe that “grade nondisclosure promotes greater risk-taking, teamwork, experiential learning, and community building in the classroom, resulting in more well-rounded graduates, better employees, and stronger leaders.” We hope the grade nondisclosure change has the positive impact they anticipate!