Colleges with low GPA requirements

So you want to go to college and make lots of money after graduation, but your GPA is awful. Don’t lose hope! There are some great colleges with low GPA requirements out there.

Your GPA is a pretty important consideration in college admissions. While some colleges will overlook your grades if you have amazing SAT scores, a heart-wrenching personal statement about all the challenges you’ve overcome, or impressive extra-curriculars, most still want students who did well in high school.

But fear not, a low GPA does not doom your career prospects! A number of schools that accept students with low GPAs are setting up their graduates for financial success, unlocking high enough salaries to easily pay off the cost of their education.

What is considered a low GPA?

Anything under a 3.43 can be considered a low GPA, as it places you in the bottom 50% of all collegegoers. And if your GPA is lower than 3.05, we’re sorry to tell you that you’re in the bottom 10%. If you’re not sure what your GPA is, you can input your letter or percent grades into our handy GPA calculator to find out!

How do we know? We analyzed publicly available admissions data for 1,298 different 4-year colleges and universities. Then, we split these schools into 6 groups based on their student body’s median high-school GPA. The top 10% of colleges had a student body with a media GPA of 3.82, and so on.

• Top 10% = 3.82+ GPA
• Top 25% = 3.63+ GPA
• Top 50% = 3.43+ GPA
• Bottom 50% = 3.25%+ GPA
• Bottom 25% = 3.05+ GPA
• Bottom 10% = 3.05 and under

Our findings are corroborated by a widely cited 2018 study released by College Board’s Michael Hurwitz and Jason Lee of the Institute of Higher Education, which determined that the average GPA among students who have taken the SAT was 3.38 in 2016.

In this article, we will focus on schools with median GPAs in the bottom 10%. Thus, when we talk about low-GPA colleges, we mean colleges whose average students had a GPA of 3.05 in high school.

» Also read: Are selective schools really better?

Are there good colleges with low GPA requirements?

For sure there are! (although your options would be better if you had a 3.5) But to answer this question properly, we first need to define “good colleges.”

At Degreechoices, we take this to mean colleges that offer you good value for money – the average salaries they unlock, 10 years after you enroll, are high enough to compensate for their costs, so you don’t get bogged down in student loans. Our system rewards colleges that are very affordable, or, if they’re expensive, lead to sky-high salaries.

To show you which colleges offer the best value for money, we have carefully devised a formula that uses cost, payback, and earnings data to assign each degree an Economic Score. The lower, the better. You can read more about how this works on our methodology page.

Unsurprisingly, as a whole, schools with lower GPA requirements tend to offer worse value for money than the average for all colleges. Correspondingly, they have a higher economic score.

Interestingly, from an economic perspective, open admissions schools perform better than low-GPA colleges.

Colleges with an open admissions policy allow any high school graduate to enroll, assuming there is available space; they don’t normally collect GPA data.

These schools generally appeal to an older demographic that often has more experience in the workforce than traditional college students, which may explain why their graduates go on to earn more.

The best colleges with low GPA requirements

Even though low-GPA colleges, on average, underperform economically, there are a number of “gems.”

These colleges not only accept students with a low high-school GPA, but they also offer a high-quality education that leads to strong economic outcomes after graduation.

What to do if you have a low GPA

Your GPA does not define you, and many schools make exceptions based on individual circumstances. Here are some hints on making the most out of the college application process if you have a low GPA.

1. Focus on what makes you a unique applicant

Every applicant has a story, and you know better than anyone else if your story might convince a school to accept you despite under-average grades.

Your opportunity to tell admissions officers your story is the personal statement, aka the dreaded college essay. If you’re having trouble crafting a compelling tale of how you’ve overcome challenges and grown as a person, reach out to your guidance counselor or your English teacher for some coaching.

2. Do amazing on the SAT/ACT

We know, easier said than done. But if you perform exceptionally well on standardized tests, a sub-standard GPA might be overlooked. If you’re a “disorganized genius” who struggled in high school because you couldn’t keep up with deadlines and kept forgetting to turn in your homework, this could be your way to shine.

If you’re really great at standardized tests, you could even consider studying independently and taking extra AP exams on your own. Those will even get you college credit.

Start off at a community college

In our opinion, a great option, and not simply one for students with low GPAs, is to consider doing your undergraduate years at community college. The large majority of community colleges have an open admissions policy and provide you a chance to demonstrate to top notch universities that you can do the work, even after ho-hum high school performance.

A bit of planning allows you to transfer your general education requirements to different 4-year colleges in your state. Indeed, state universities often have transfer agreements with local community colleges – so you can finish up your last 2 years with the same degree that the students attending for 4 years receive.

And of course, there is a financial advantage to going to community college first, as tuition and cost of housing is generally much lower.

Final thoughts

Not everyone gets off to a good start academically. But just because your GPA is “meh” doesn’t mean you can’t succeed after college. Just remember to choose a degree that won’t leave you drowning in toxic debt. (and don’t pick a degree just because it’s easy). Our list of the best low GPA colleges is a good place to start!