In the crazy game of college admissions, you always want to be above average – especially when it comes to your GPA. A high grade point average tells admissions committees a lot about you and what kind of student you are. It indicates that you take your work seriously and also says that you have been consistently committed to your studies throughout your four years of high school, always striving to do well.

Having an above average high school GPA will not only give you a better shot at admission to your favorite school, but it will also put you in the running for more scholarships. You can qualify for better public scholarships (i.e. from the school you attend) and private (from companies, organizations, etc.) Sounds totally ideal, right?

But what exactly is the average high school GPA? After all, if you want to consider your GPA “high” you have to know how everyone else is doing. Does it differ between genders, social classes, and states? What about from school to school? Well, you’ve come to the right place to find out. Keep reading to see how your GPA stack ups against students from across your school, as well as the whole country.

What’s the average high school GPA?

In 2009, the National Center for Education Statistics released a huge study on American high school academics and average GPAs. Because this data is 7 years old, we are keeping our eyes peeled for new information from the department. However, the results are still quite relevant to today’s classrooms.

Take a look at the chart below.

Image Source: USNews

It looks like high school students are taking harder classes and earning better grades. As you can see, overall GPAs have increased almost an entire point for both genders since 1990.

Some other big findings from this study include the following things:

• In 2009, students took over three credits more than kids in 1990. This means that they received 420 more hours of instruction during their high school careers.
• More 2009 graduates completed harder classes than 1990 or 2005 graduates.
• Nearly 2/3 of graduates who took harder classes took algebra I before high school.

At first glance, this information is really exciting! Students seem to be getting smarter and doing better in school overall. But some might argue that grade inflation heavily contributes to this “success.”

What is high school GPA inflation?

You have probably heard of grade inflation when your parents or teachers talk about the kinds of marks you will receive in college, as it seems to be quite an issue now, particularly in the Ivy League. You can read more about that in an excellent article from the Economist here. But, what you might not know is that grade inflation is reportedly also happening in many high schools all across the U.S.

Grade Inflation is actually pretty easy to understand. Basically, it’s when your teacher gives you an A for a paper that would have been considered a B when your parents were in high school.Sometimes, the changes in standards happen so quickly that your sister’s A in physics three years ago could have been harder for her to earn than yours this year. This means that, at many schools, the average high school GPA is much higher now than it used to be

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that consistently receiving high grades does not indicate that the marks you earn have been inflated. So there is no need to panic – Yale isn’t going to think that your straight A transcript is fake or that you didn’t work hard for it.

For grade inflation to count, someone has to be able to prove that the high grades are not deserved.

Let us explain.

This 2010 Rojstaczer& Healy study is about trends in post-secondary education, but its main principles apply to average high school GPAs as well.

Take a look.

They say that:

• Average grades between public and private universities started differing in the 1950s
• From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, there was a sudden increase in the kinds of grades everyone was getting
• From the late 1970s to the mid-1980’s, there were little to no changes
• Since the late 1980s, the grades students earn for the same work have been steadily rising

Pretty crazy, right? But why do we think this is? How does inflating people’s grades actually help anyone? Keep reading to find out.

Why have high school GPAs inflated over the years?

The number one reason for the average high school GPA rising over the years is pressure. Administrators, parents, and even students themselves are pressuring teachers to award higher grades. Parents and students want good grades because college admissions and scholarships are at stake, and school administrators love higher average GPAs because it reflects well on the school. At many public schools, the better the students are performing, the more state funding the school is eligible to receive.

It’s also kind of a vicious cycle. If one school is inflating its student’s grades to keep them on track, then other schools in the district must soon follow suit, or their students will no longer be considered academically competitive. The practice can soon snowball outside of the district, and continue across the state.

While grade inflation might seem nice on the surface (because who doesn’t want a higher than average GPA for less work?) it has very serious repercussions. Because college admissions officers aren’t sure if a 4.0 from two schools are actually comparable, they have to rely more and more on standardized test scores to deicide which students really have the academic edge.

Are you worried that your school has inflated your grades?

There is no way that you can ever be 100% sure, but a good way to start is by looking up where students from your school are going to college. To keep from getting overwhelmed, try going only two or three years back, and then check out your current classmates.

Does pretty much everyone have a 4.0 (or higher? You can read about weighted and unweighted GPAs here and here.) If the students with these GPAs are getting in to Ivy League or top 25 schools, this could mean that you go to school with a bunch of really smart kids. But, if these top scholars’ grades are only getting them into state schools, or schools in your area, then you know something is up.

How do I find the average GPA at my high school?

If you simply want to know how you stack up against your classmates, a good place to start is by asking your guidance counselor. He or she will have the data you need available and will be able to help you sift through the results to see where you stand.

You can also check in with your guidance counselor to find out your class rank. Class rank is the best indicator of average GPAs at your high school. For example, if you have a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, and rank 250^th out of 500 students, you can easily infer that 3.0 is about an average GPA for your school.

Your class rank also places you in a percentile. For example, some state colleges have programs that grant you automatic admission if you are in the top 10% of your class, because to achieve this, your GPA has to be well above your school’s average.

It’s very easy to find your percentile. For example, if you are 100^th out of 500 students, you are in the top 20% of your class (100/500 = 0.20 or class rank/total number of students = percentage). Using this information, you can say that you are in the 20^th percentile because your GPA is higher than 80% of your classmates’, but lower than 20%.

If you guidance counselor tells you that your high school does not compute a class rank, that is definitely cause for concern – as it probably means that your school practices grade inflation. This is because if your school has way too many students with a perfect GPA, college admissions officers will definitely be able to pick up on this and be aware that the graduates of your school are not as qualified as others.

If you are in at least the 50^th percentile or higher, and you have over a 3.5 GPA, then there is likely at least a little grade inflation happening at your high school. In the past, only the top 10% of students earned A grades.

What’s a good GPA for college admissions?

Although requirements largely differ based on each specific school, a excellent rule of thumb is that a good GPA for college admissions is one that puts you in the top 25% of applicants.

If you want to apply to an Ivy League university, a Top 25 school, or a prestigious liberal arts college, then on a 4.0 scale you need to have a GPA of 3.75 or higher. Most of these schools, although they do not report a minimum, will not look at your application unless you have at least a 3.0 GPA. They really want to see applicants who graduated in the top quarter of their class.

However, smaller, less competitive schools might see a 3.0 GPA as an extremely desirable, with students averaging at least a 2.5 GPA still being considered for admission. You will find that you will not have much luck with anything under a 2.0, but many community colleges have no GPA entrance requirements, and only require that you possess a high school diploma or GED.

A quick review

Here are some quick takeaways to remember for the future:

• The average GPA differs from school to school.
• The national average high school GPA has increased over the past few years.
• Talk to your guidance counselor about grade inflation at your school.
• Your class rank is an excellent indicator of your school’s average GPA.
• A good GPA for college admissions is one that puts you in the top 25% of applicants.

So there you have it! Now you know all about the average high school GPAs, but remember, the number that really matters is not your high school’s average, but the average GPA of students admitted to your favorite college.

If you find that you are performing better than most of the kids at your school, don’t get complacent. Continue to challenge yourself! You could gain admission into any even better school, or even earn a nice scholarship.

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