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

Oct 9, 2026

Education researchers and college admissions officials often rely on self-reported coursework and grades from high school students. This study evaluates how accurately self-reported course and grade information from ACT registration matches high school transcript data from a Midwestern state. Results show students’ self-reports accurately reflect their coursework (about 94% correct), with strong alignment for course grades and GPA. Accuracy varies minimally by gender, race/ethnicity, and low-income status.

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 ofACT. How Accurate Are Self♣Reported HighSchool Courses, Course Grades, and Grade Point Average? Edgar Sanchez and Richard Buddin April 2015 Abstract Education researchers and college admissions officials often rely on self➓reported coursework and grade information provided by high school students. This study examines the accuracy of self➓reported course and grade information from the ACT registration with high school transcript data from a Midwestern state. The evidence shows that students’ self➓reported information is an accurate representation of their high school experience. About 94% of students accurately reported their coursework. The correlation between self➓reported and transcript course grades was 0.66 with 96% of self➓reported grades within a single letter grade of their transcript grade. High school grade point average computed from self➓reported 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 low➓income status. The results indicate that self➓reported coursework and grade are reasonably valid measures for education researchers and for preliminary screening of students by college admissions officials. Keywords: self➓reported student data, high school grades, high school coursework Introduction Education researchers often study the relationship between highschool coursework, grades , and admissions test scores on college enrollment and persistence, grade point average (GPA) , and onãtime degree completion (Adelman, 2006 ; Schmittetal. 2009 , Radunzel & Nobel, 2012 ; Sanchez , 2013 ; Mattern, Patterson, & Wyatt, 2013) . Researchers seldom, however, have access to highschool transcript data and typically rely on student selfãreported course and grade information. Oneofthe premises ofthis postãsecondary research is that the selfãreported information adequately reflects student background and highschool preparation. Student selfãreported 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 highschool transcripts for applicants, but selfã reported 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 high school coursework. Having a shortlist ofdiscrete core courses may help postsecondary administrators efficiently identify qualified applicants. Given the widespread use ofselfãreported coursework and grade information, this study focuses on whether selfãreported information is an accurate indication ofa student’s highschool experience. We obtained highschool transcript data from a Midwest state and compared this data with course and grade information that students selfãreported when registering for the ACT test. The registration form asks for course enrollment and grade information for 30 highschool courses in English, math, science, social studies, foreign languages , and the arts. Literature Review Valiga ( 1987) examined the accuracy ofself✤reported course✤taking and grades for about 1 ,000 students from 26 Kentucky and Illinois high schools that registered to take the ACTin 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 1

FAQs

How does the study compare self-reported course information with transcript data?

The study obtains high school transcript course and grade data from a Midwestern state and compares it with course and grade information students self-report when registering for the ACT test.

What level of accuracy do students show in reporting coursework and grades?

About 94% of students accurately reported their coursework. The correlation between self-reported and transcript course grades is 0.66, with 96% of self-reported grades within a single letter grade of the transcript grade.

Do self-reported data remain accurate across different student groups?

The accuracy of coursework and grades differed little by gender, race/ethnicity, and low-income status, indicating generally consistent validity across these groups.

Oct 9, 2026

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