Do C’s really get degrees?

Mike Gaul, director of career services for the College of Agriculture, said from an employer’s perspective, GPA is just one piece of the puzzle.

“In today’s market, especially today’s competitive job markets, the ideal candidate is going to stand out is going to be a well-rounded individual,” Gaul said. 

Gaul said a well-rounded individual maintains a strong GPA, has summer internship experience, and is involved with campus activities and study abroad experiences. 

“What they’re looking for in a candidate is somebody that embraced all these opportunities [that have] been presented to them throughout their college experience,” Gaul said.

Tiffany Atilano, director of career services in the College of Design, said that in the design field, GPA isn’t as important as a portfolio.

“Students will have a portfolio, so that’s a large piece of what they look at and evaluate,” Atilano said. “Skills, experience, leadership, extracurricular activities and involvement are all other things that make for strong candidacy for a position.”

Atilano said if a student’s GPA isn’t one of their strengths, they should highlight others.

“Maybe you’re calling attention to different skill sets or different projects, so it will always be a combination of things,” Atilano said. “So focusing on your strengths related to the position would be a good strategy.”

Gaul said one of the biggest changes he’s seen in his career is the reliance employers have on GPA. He mentioned that he talked to a recruiter about this.

“The recruiter told me, ‘I would much rather have that student that has a 2.8 GPA versus that 4.0 student, and that 2.8 student can… look me in the eyes and hold a conversation,’” Gaul said.

Amanda Schickel, director of career services for the College of Human Sciences, said research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that in 2017, 70% of employers screened for GPA, but in 2025, 46% of employers screened for GPA.

 “It depends on the industry,” Schickel said. “There’s some employers that [GPA] is a factor that they’re absolutely still looking at. And then some where they’re looking at a number of other factors.”

Schickel said students can choose if they want to highlight their GPA on their resume or not, and which GPA they want to highlight.

“Another option for students is to consider listing their major GPA if that’s higher,” Schickel said. “So their major GPA would be based on the courses that are specific to their major, and their academic advisor could help them to calculate that.”

Gaul said if students are worried about their GPA, they can approach it with damage control.

“If it does get brought up in an interview, which it very well could, and your GPA is not where you want to be,” Gaul said. “Why is that? Maybe you start off in the wrong major, a very common scenario with a lot of college students. I know in our college, the College of Ag and Life Sciences, an incredibly high percentage of our students work part-time to support their college education. And you got students that are working 20, 30 hours a week, invariably, a class or two might suffer, and the same can be said for leadership, maybe students that just overextended in campus activities and maybe classes suffered… If your GPA is not where you want it to be you need to spin it.”

Gaul said there is no doubt that the job market has tightened and students need to take their job search seriously.

“It’s a full time job, finding a job, and so you’ve got to devote the time and effort to it,” Gaul said.

Atilano recommends that when job hunting, students should do their research on the company.

“Look at why you want to be working for that particular employer, why you’re interested in the position, what skills you have that you bring to the position or experience and the more that you can communicate where your skills align with what they’re looking for, the better,” Atilano said.

Schickel said connecting with career services and starting early can help students with their job search.

“Starting to connect with those employers, even looking at job descriptions and internship descriptions before students are ready to apply, so they can see what are the qualifications, the experiences, the skills that employers are looking for,” Schickel said.

Students can reach out to career services by visiting this website.