Study charts Prep students' success
Augusta Preparatory Day School is making the grade, a recent survey shows.
This summer, Augusta Prep surveyed the graduates of its past five graduating classes, asking each to evaluate how prepared they were for the rigors of college.
"Our mission charges us to be the highest quality college preparatory school in the region," said Jack Hall, now in his fifth year at Prep. "It is important for independent schools to be accountable for what we claim to be good at: preparing students for college and beyond."
The survey asked students to report their college freshman grade-point average and cumulative grade-point average. More than 50 percent of the graduates from the five classes responded.
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The average college freshman GPA for all Georgia public school graduates during the 2001-02 school year was 2.6. For Georgia private school graduates, the average freshman GPA was 2.7.
According to Hall's research, the average freshman GPA for Augusta Prep graduates from 1998-2002 is 3.4.
Lindsey Bigham takes advantage of a pretty day to study outside at Augusta Preparatory Day School. A survey by the school indicates that its graduates have higher grade-point averages in college than students from other schools in the area.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Based on 85 of 170 graduates - all of whom went to four-year colleges - the cumulative GPA for all five classes combined is 3.4.
Of the 85 Augusta Prep graduates who responded to the survey, 25 percent have graduated from or are enrolled in University System of Georgia schools. Of that group, 24 students - or 96 percent - retained their HOPE Scholarship all the way through college or have retained it to this point in their college careers.
Hall said he is continuing his research and is working to get more students to reply to the survey to ensure that the results are not biased to reflect only the school's top students who might have been more motivated to respond.
"The cumulative GPA of the students who graduated in the top third of the class from Prep was outstanding, 3.6. But only 38 percent of all respondents were in the top third of the class," Hall said. "Thirty-one percent of both the middle and bottom third of Prep's last five graduating classes have responded, and the results confirm that Prep does remarkably well in preparing all of its students for college."
The cumulative GPA of students in the middle third is 3.4, while those in the bottom third have a cumulative 3.1 GPA in college - above the average for public or private school students from Georgia.