The Pac-12 schools can be just as competitive in academics as in athletics.
Each college offers a variety of scholarships and programs, but it’s in GPA where the real fight begins, although UCLA and Stanford don’t use the same standard 4.0 measurement. The U sits near the middle of pack with an average 3.55 GPA. Washington State is the lowest with an average GPA of 3.3.
David Gardner, president emeritus of the U, said in a press conference after the U joined the Pac-12 that the university’s academic accomplishments sealed the deal.
“If not for the U’s performance in the classrooms and laboratories, this partnership [in the Pac-12] would not have formed,” he said.
Adam Beckstead, an undeclared freshman, said he wishes academics were emphasized more than athletics in the Pac-12.
“The Pac-12 should boast more about how impressive the GPAs are,” he said. “But I love sports, and so I follow the Pac-12 stats and games intensely.”
Kira Vandergriff, a freshman in sports medicine, chose to go the U because it was part of the Pac-12.
“I am more qualified because I will graduate from a Pac-12 school,” she said. “The U has a great amount of scholarships, and our GPA is really comparable to the other schools … The Pac-12 has given our school a name, and people from across the country know who we are and what the U is.”
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Average GPAs for Pac-12 Colleges:
University of California, Los Angeles: 4.29
Stanford University: 4.18
University of California, Berkeley: 3.86
University of Washington: 3.76
University of Southern California: 3.73
University of Oregon: 3.6
Oregon State University: 3.56
University of Utah: 3.55
Arizona State University: 3.46
University of Colorado Boulder: 3.43
University of Arizona: 3.4
Washington State University: 3.3
*Source: collegedata.com
**NOTE: Not all of the Pac-12 colleges are on a 4.0 GPA scale.