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On Thursday, Dean of the College Michael Gordin and Registrar Emily Shandley announced in an email to undergraduates that effective Fall 2026, the University-wide academic calendar would be abolished. Without the constraints of the calendar, departments and faculty will now be able to schedule course meeting dates, breaks, and deadlines independently.
Gordin and Shandley noted that abolishing the calendar would provide undergraduates with greater flexibility, building on the final assessment reforms implemented in Spring 2025. “Following the resounding success of the abolition of Dean’s Date, we have decided the best path forward is to eliminate the University-wide academic calendar altogether,” said Gordin.
Many deadlines currently specified in the calendar, such as the add/drop deadline or the deadline to elect the Pass/D/Fail option will no longer apply. Similarly, the midterm examination week, final assessment period, and term breaks will be eliminated. Individual departments and faculty will now set all of these dates and deadlines.
In a statement to The Daily PrintsAnything, University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss stated that input from undergraduate students played “a significant role in the updated calendar system.”
“We continually evaluate our undergraduate curriculum, and feedback from students will inform future decisions — just as feedback over many years played an important role in developing the current plans,” he said.
In an interview with the ‘Prints,’ Gordin touted the flexibility the new system would afford students in booking travel. “Instead of having to wait for the Registrar to release a final examination schedule, students will now be able to simply decide when they want to leave campus,” he said.
Gordin also cited reducing stress for students as a key reason behind the change, referencing the removal of Dean’s Date as a key deadline. “If getting rid of one deadline was so successful, why not just get rid of all of them?” Gordin remarked. “We’re always looking for ways to reduce bureaucracy for students — just like when we eliminated the restrictive one-exam-a-day rule in 2024.”
“Students have consistently reported elevated stress and struggles with managing their academic work during exam periods, and we need to take decisive action to address that,” Gordin added.
However, some students seemed apprehensive about the change.
Ty Mysup ’28 was concerned about the possible impact of the change on whether he could spend time with family during the holidays. “I’m particularly concerned about my COS 217 syllabus, which indicates that I have an 8:30 a.m. in-person exam on Dec. 25. I’m not sure why the instructors chose to schedule it like that, but since there’s no longer a defined final examination period there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Mei Dean ’27 also voiced concerns about possible conflicts between classes, as a central authority to regulate examination times no longer existed. “I have two exams at the same time on a Monday afternoon, which also coincides with my three hour seminar class,” Dean said. “I think I might have to still go to the seminar though, since attendance is 80 percent of my grade.”
When asked by the ‘Prints’ about how students should resolve potential conflicts, Gordin advised that students should “contact their residential college dean.”
In their email, Gordin and Shandley acknowledged the potential anxiety the transition to the new system would bring, but noted its benefits to students. “While we understand that this may induce some anxiety, it bears recalling that under the prior system students were forced to be on campus during specified times, and coerced into a rigid regime of dates and deadlines. No schedule is perfect, which is why no schedule is surely better.”
Jerry Zhu is a contributing Humor writer and the guest Opinion editor. He is ecstatic that the University has embraced the microeconomic theory principle that having more choices cannot make someone worse off. He can be reached at jfz[at]princeton.edu.
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