Average College GPA: Full Statistics

Your college GPA is one way to track your academic progress, but it can also help prospective employers determine how you measure up against other candidates during the application process. Scholarships, internships, and graduate school admissions officials may also heavily consider your college GPA.

This report explores average college GPA statistics, including GPA averages by race and major, the average GPA for first-year students, and grade inflation over the years.

What Is the Average College GPA?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average college GPA was 2.9 in 2014.^{Note Reference [1]} This comes out to be a B letter grade or an 84% percentage grade.

You can calculate your GPA by converting your percentage grade to the 4.0 GPA scale. Some examples include:

• An A/A+ letter grade, or a percentage grade of 93-100%, is equivalent to a GPA of 4.0.
• A B+ average translates to a 3.3 GPA.
• A B- average is a 2.7 GPA.

Average First-Year GPA

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average GPA for first-year college students was 2.6 in 2013. Over 38% of students earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher in their first year.^{Note Reference [2]}

Average First-Year College GPA by Gender

Men had an average first-year GPA of 2.4. Women did slightly better with an average first-year GPA of 2.7.^{Note Reference [2]}

Average First-Year College GPA by Race

According to the NCES, white and Asian students had GPAs above the average, whereas other racial/ethnic groups fell slightly below.

• Asian students had the highest average first-year college GPA of 2.9.
• White students had the second-highest, with an average GPA of 2.8.
• Black students had the lowest average first-year college GPA of 2.1.

It is important to keep in mind that GPA performance does not tell the whole story. A history of exclusion for students of color, including segregation laws, discriminatory admission policies, as well as emotional, psychological, and physical obstacles continue to disadvantage students of color.

Average First-Year College GPA by Socioeconomic Class

A student's socioeconomic status appeared to have a strong correlation with academic performance as well.

• Students from families in the top 20% income bracket had an average first-year college GPA of 2.9, the highest of all income brackets.^{Note Reference [2]}
• Students from families in the middle 20-60% of income levels had an average first-year college GPA of 2.5.^{Note Reference [2]}
• Lastly, those from families in the bottom 20% of earners had an average first-year college GPA of 2.3.^{Note Reference [2]}

First-Generation Students

Just as students from wealthier families earned higher GPAs on average than students from poorer families, students with parents with higher levels of education generally had higher college GPAs than students with parents with less education.

• First-generation college students had the lowest average college GPAs, with a 2.5 average in 1992 and a 2.6 average in 2000.
• Students with parents who had a bachelor's degree or higher had the highest GPAs in both 1992 and 2000.
• GPAs increased for all student groups between 1992 and 2000.

Average College GPA by Major

When broken down by major, students in general studies and other had the highest GPAs. Students in the sciences, education, social sciences, and humanities had the lowest GPAs with 2.7.

High School GPA vs. College GPA

According to NCES, students' high school GPAs strongly correlated with their GPAs during their first year of college.

• Those who earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher in high school went on to earn an average first-year college GPA of 3.4.
• Those who earned a 3.0-3.49 in high school had an average first-year college GPA of 2.9.

Grade Inflation: Is an A the New Norm?

Grade inflation refers to awarding higher grades than a student may have earned. According to a dataset compiled by journalist and professor Stuart Rojstaczer, grade inflation took off in the 1960s and 1970s due to the Vietnam War when grades could exempt you from getting drafted into the military.^[5]

Rojstaczer and his colleague Christopher Healy have argued that from the 1980s onward, grade inflation could be due to a more consumer-based approach to teaching in which generous grades give college graduates better future prospects and lead to better instructor evaluations.^{Note Reference [5]} Departments then use evaluations to make decisions about pay, promotions, and retention of instructors.

• More than one-quarter (26%) of 600 surveyed liberal arts colleges instituted student course evaluations in 1973.^{Note Reference [5]}
• By 1983, the percentage increased to 68%, and 86% by 1993.^{Note Reference [5]}

Grade Inflation Over the Years

• Grades rose at a rate of 0.1 points per decade from the late 1980s-2013.^{Note Reference [3]}
• Out of the more than 170 schools included in Rojstaczer's research, all of them rose in average GPA in the past 50 years.^{Note Reference [3]}
• According to GradeInflation.com, by 2007, As and Bs accounted for 73% of all grades given at public schools.^{Note Reference [5]}
• The percentage is even higher (86%) for grades awarded at private schools.^{Note Reference [5]}

A 2021 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that increased GPAs were not caused by increased learning or college preparation. The research suggested that relaxed standards accounted for rising GPA averages and graduation rates.^[6]