Grade-point averages for Lawrence’s two public high schools are better now than in 2000, when the national GPA was 2.94, according to a U.S. Department of Education study.

In the first semester of the 2003-2004 school year, Free State High School seniors averaged a cumulative 3.22 GPA and Lawrence High School seniors averaged a 2.94 GPA.

Free State averaged a 3.10 GPA in 2000, the year of the national study.

“In a sense, it shows students are meeting teachers’ standards and achieving at a higher level, which our country is expecting at this point,” FSHS principal Joe Snyder said of the GPA increase. “It reflects both the work ethic and the standards kids meet.”

In 2000, LHS had a 2.89 GPA, which was .05 below the national average. The school’s highest GPA this decade is 2.97, which LHS seniors posted in 2001 and 2002.

“If numbers are going up on standardized tests, which they are in many cases, the study gives rising GPAs more credibility,” said Steve Nilhas, LHS principal. “You also have to look at how challenging the course work was.”

GPAs remain important, Nilhas said, when students apply at colleges.

“Colleges look at GPAs, class rank and hopefully beyond that,” he said. “They look at how difficult courses were, volunteer work and what they participated in.”