Aims: Educational research often relies on the self reports of students to determine their grades/GPA for reasons including ease of administration, time constraints, IRB approval, and assumption of accuracy. The main purpose of this study was to determine the validity of student self reports on their academic grades, and if the benefits outweigh the potential errors. Methods/Results: Participants (n-415) were students in a suburban school in a large metropolitan city in the Midwest. Two methods of self reported grades were correlated with students' actual transcript grades. Results showed fair amounts of correspondence (r=.60-.89), with actual grades being correlated at higher levels than self reported grades. Conclusion: 1 hunger students and those with higher grades were more accurate reporters. Those with more diligent academic behaviors also demonstrated greater accuray, and those with a vaguer sense of future goals demonstrated less accuracy. All results are discussed in the context of how valid are students' self-reported grades for research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]