How Accurate Are Self-Reported High School Courses - Course Grades, and Grade Point Average?

Oct 9, 2026

Education researchers and college admissions officials often rely on self-reported high school coursework and grade information. This study compares student self-reports from ACT registration with high school transcript data from a Midwestern state. Findings show self-reported course and grade information closely matches transcripts: about 94% of students report coursework accurately, correlations are 0.66 for course grades, and GPA is highly correlated (r=0.83). Accuracy varies minimally by demographic groups.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

How Accurate Are Self-Reported High School Courses, Course Grades, and Grade Point Average? Edgar Sanchez Richard Buddin WP-2015-03 April 2015 ACT Working Paper Series ACT working papers document preliminary research. The papers are intended to promote discussion and feedback before formal publication. The research does not necessarily reflect the views of ACT. How Accurate Are Self-Reported High School Courses, Course Grades, and Grade Point Average? Edgar Sanchez and Richard Buddin April 2015 Abstract Education researchers and college admissions officials often rely on self-reported coursework and grade information provided by high school students. This study examines the accuracy of self-reported course and grade information from the ACT registration with high school transcript data from a Midwestern state. The evidence shows that students’ self-reported information is an accurate representation of their high school experience. About 94% of students accurately reported their coursework. The correlation between self-reported and transcript course grades was 0.66 with 96% of self-reported grades within a single letter grade of their transcript grade. High school grade point average computed from self-reported course grades was highly correlated with transcript grade point average (r=0.83) . The accuracy of coursework and grades differed little by gender, race/ethnicity, and low-income status. The results indicate that self-reported coursework and grade are reasonably valid measures for education researchers and for preliminary screening of students by college admissions officials. Keywords: self-reported student data, high school grades, high school coursework Introduction Education researchers often study the relationship between high school coursework, grades, and admissions test scores on college enrollment and persistence, grade point average (GPA), and on-time degree completion (Adelman, 2006; Schmitt et al. 2009, Radunzel & Nobel, 2012; Sanchez, 2013; Mattern, Patterson, & Wyatt, 2013) . Researchers seldom, however, have access to high school transcript data and typically rely on student self-reported course and grade information. One of the premises of this post-secondary research is that the self-reported information adequately reflects student background and high school preparation. Student self-reported information is also used by college recruiters and postsecondary administrators to identify and encourage potential applicants with suitable preparation to apply to their institution. Ultimately, colleges obtain high school transcripts for applicants, but selfreported information provides an efficient way to identify students adequately prepared for college. While transcripts are the official record, course titles vary considerably from district to district, so postsecondary administrators may have difficulty assessing and categorizing highschool coursework. Having a short list of discrete core courses may help postsecondary administrators efficiently identify qualified applicants. Given the widespread use of self-reported coursework and grade information, this study focuses on whether self-reported information is an accurate indication of a student’s high school experience. We obtained high school transcript data from a Midwest state and compared this data with course and grade information that students self-reported when registering for the ACT test. The registration form asks for course enrollment and grade information for 30 high school courses in English, math, science, social studies, foreign languages, and the arts. Literature Review Valiga (1987) examined the accuracy of self-reported course-taking and grades for about 1,000 students from 26 Kentucky and Illinois high schools that registered to take the ACT in April or June of 1983. In this study the correlations between self-reported and transcript grades ranged from 0.75 for Computer Science to 0.92 for English 11 with a m

FAQs

What data sources does the study compare to evaluate self-reported information?

It compares course and grade information students self-reported on the ACT registration form with high school transcript data from a Midwestern state.

How accurate are students’ self-reported coursework and course grades?

The study reports about 94% accurate coursework reporting, a correlation of 0.66 between self-reported and transcript course grades, and 96% of self-reported grades within one letter grade.

Do demographic factors substantially affect the accuracy of self-reported data?

Accuracy differs little by gender, race/ethnicity, and low-income status, indicating similar validity across these groups.

Oct 9, 2026

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