Average High School GPA for 2024

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The Average GPA of high school denotes the average performance of the students in their high school years. Yale was the first school in the US to apply the grading method that is used today. They started to track the students’ progress in a book named “book of Average.” The tests were examined by following a set procedure, and students were given scores on the basis of a 4-point scale.

GPA plays a crucial role in university admissions. Different majors have varying GPAs that are considered during the admission process. GPA is considered important when a student is applying for an entry-level job. 

According to the University of Iowa, The average high school GPA for the classes of 2024 and 2023 were 3.78 and 3.76, respectively.

In the following article, I have combined a curated list of statistics related to the average GPA of high schools. I have considered and added all the required details related to the topic. 

Average High School GPA For 2024 — (Top Picks)

Average High School GPA - Overview
  1. The average GPA scored by students in high school is approximately 3.0. 
  2. The average high school GPA of female students is 3.1.
  1. The male students in high school score an average high school GPA. 
  1. For science and math courses, students managed to earn an average GPA of 2.60. 
  1. The average GPA scored by the students in college is 2.70.
  1. 2.69 is the average GPA scored by black students.
  1. White students score an average GPA of 3.09 in their high school years. 
  1. 2.84 is the Average GPA scored by Hispanic students in high school. 
  1. Asian and Pacific Islanders score an average GPA of 3.26 in their high school.
  1. The highest average GPA of 3.48 is scored by high school students in South Carolina. 

The following chart suggests the complete GPA conversion chart.

GradePercentageGPA
A+97-1004.0
A93-964.0
A-90-923.7
B+87-893.7
B83-863.0
B-80-822.7
C+77-792.3
C73-762.0
C-70-721.7
D+67-691.3
D65-661.0
FBelow 650.0

Average High School GPA: General Statistics

  1. The average GPA of high school students went up from 3.27 to 3.30 in the year 2016.
  1. When compared to First-year college GPA, High school has a GPA of 3.00, which is higher than it. 
  1.  The students who scored 34 composite scores on the ACT had a High school GPA that was 0.31 higher than their college GPA.
  2. high school has a variable quality of education, which makes a 3.5 GPA in one school different from a 3.5 GPA in another school. 
  1. In the year 2009, the average high school GPA was 3.0, while in 2017, it was 3.38. 
  1. The average GPA score of the students in high school over the years is as follows:
YearAverage GPA(approx)
19902.6
19942.7
19982.8
20002.9
20093.0
20213.0+

Source: Thinkimpact, USnews, NCES.

Average High School GPA By Gender

  1. The average male GPA is 2.9, while the average female GPA is 3.1.
  1. 49% of the female graduates completed the curriculum of mid-level between 1990 and 2009.
  1. Between the years 1990 and 2009, there was a 43% increase in male graduates that completed mid-level education.
  1. The percentage of female graduates who completed below a standard curriculum declined from 61% in 1990 to 23% in 2009. 
  1. From the students that didn’t receive a standard curriculum, maths requirements were missed by 7% of the male and 9% of female students. 
  1. 40% of the female and 30% of the males that failed to receive standard curriculum lacked the requirements of science. 
  1. From the students completing mid-level education, 9% of males and 15% of females missed the needed science courses to get a rigorous curriculum. 
  1. Only the foreign language credits were missed by 14% of male and 105 female graduates required to attain a rigorous curriculum. 
  1. The average GPA of male and female high school students since 1990 is as follows:
YearMaleFemale
19902.592.77
19942.682.90
19982.73.00
20002.832.05
20052.863.09
20092.903.10

Source: Thinkimpact, USnews, NCES.

Average High School GPA By Race(Ethnicity)

The observed differences in the average GPA of different ethnic groups are affected by socioeconomic factors like family income, quality of life, school quality, and other stressors that can impact students’ academic performance.

  1. The average GPA of high school students according to their ethnicity is as follows:
EthnicityAverage GPA
Black2.69
Hispanic2.84
White3.09
Asian/Pacific3.26
  1. In the year, 29% of pacific Islander graduates completed a rigorous curriculum, while only 6% of Black, 14% of White, and 8 percent of Hispanic graduates completed it.
  1. The African descent got 3.9 more credits in the year 2009 as compared to what they earned in 1990. 
  1. The white graduates completed 3.7 credits more in 2009 as compared to the year 1990.
  2. Around 33.33% of the Asian/ Pacific Islanders and more than 40% of the Hispanic, White, and Black students managed to complete a standard or a below-standard curriculum. 
  1. 8-35% of the students who completed the standard curriculum but not a mid-level curriculum lacked multiple requirements to attend a mid-level curriculum. 
  1. 19-27% of the students who completed their below-standard curriculum lacked the requirements to achieve a standard curriculum  

Source: Thinkimpact, NCES. 

Students With Disabilities And English Language Learners.

  1. 8% of students that graduated high school were students with disabilities in 2019. 
  1. Students with disabilities earn average credit of 26.8, while students without disabilities earn 27.2 credits.
  1. 50% of disabled students completed their standard curriculum level or high in the year 2009.
  1. Only below standard curriculum was completed by around 45% of the students that have disabilities. 
  1. At least the middle-level curriculum was completed by 50% of the students with disabilities. 

Source: Thinkimpact, NCES.

Average High School GPA By State 

  1. The average GPA of top High Schools in the state is as follows: 
StateAverage High School GPA
South Carolina3.48
West Virginia3.44
Mississippi3.42
North Carolina3.37
Virginia3.36
Illinois3.36
Massachusetts3.36
Texas3.35
Tennessee3.32
Florida3.32

Source: Insurify, NCES.

Average High School GPA. 

  1. The average GPA of High school Students in the US is 3.0.
  1. The median GPA of students attending more affluent schools was 3.0, while those attending less affluent schools had an average GPA of 2.59.
  1. Average GPA of High school students in core academic courses like Science, Maths, English, and Social Studies is 2.79.
  1. Average GPA of high school students in other academic courses like foreign languages and other courses not included in the core curriculum is 3.14.
  1. The average GPA of high school students in the courses like physical education, cooking, health, etc., is 3.39.
  1. Different types of courses in high school have the average GPA as follows:
SubjectAverage GPA
Maths2.65
Science2.70
English2.85
Social Studies2.89

The students have lower average GPAs in subjects like maths and science as compared to English and Social studies. 

  1. The students in the year 1990 took over three more credits than the students in the year 1990. 
  1. The kids in high school in the year 2009 received 420 more hours of instruction as compared to the students in the year 1990. 
  1. ⅔ of the students with harder classes opted for algebra before high school. 
  2. The average GPA of the students for science and mathematics in the year 2000 was 2.60. 
  1. 13-course subjects out of 16-course subjects showed an increase in the average GPA.

Source: ThinImpact, PrepScholar, NCES.

Average High School GPA For College Admission

  1. At most of the competitive schools, the average GPA of the students admitted was in the range of 3.75 to 4.0.
  1. The less selective colleges have an average requirement of a GPA between 2.5 to 3.0. 
  1. GPA of more than 3.5 is generally preferred for college scholarships.
  1. The students scoring a 2.3 GPA or less in math and science will face immediate rejection in the engineering majors.
  1. Earning a GPA near 4.0 makes students eligible for admission to most universities. 

Source: ThinImpact, PrepScholar, NCES.

Average High School GPA VS College GPA

  1. The GPA of the high scroll is higher than the GPA of the first year of college by 0.66 points. 
  1. The average GPA obtained by students at four-year colleges is approximately 3.15.
  1. The average GPA of the top 10 universities is as follows:
UniversityCollege Average GPA
Brown University3.71
Stanford University3.66
Harvard University3.64
Yale University3.62
Columbia University3.59
Vanderbilt Univerity3.57
Duke University3.56
Baylor University3.56
Northeastern University3.55
Dartmouth College3.54

Source: ThinImpact, PrepScholar, Ripple Match, NCES.

Impact of High School GPA on your Income

58. According to research from the University of Miami, an increase in high school GPA affects the annual earnings of students by around 12% in men and 14% in women.

The following chart shows the correlation between income and high school GPA.

(Source: Miami.edu)

GPAMaleFemale
0$19,300$6,000
0.5$22,000$10,000
1$26,000$14,000
1.5$30,000$16,500
2$33,500$21,000
2.5$37,300$29,900
3$41,000$27,000
3.5$44,000$33,200
4$47,000$36,100

Related Read:

That’s all about the average high school GPA. 

To raise your GPA, you can switch majors if you find your course to be challenging. According to the research conducted, female students score a better GPA in high school than male students. The researchers say that even if 5% of male students will stop engaging in criminal activities, their average GPA will tremendously increase.  

I hope that the article has helped you and provided the required information. If I forgot to add any stats to the article above, do let me know in the comments below. I usually keep updating the article; your comments may help to include the latest figures. 

Alvin Parker

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