The list of Common App colleges that require Courses & Grades got shorter this fall. In August, 81 colleges and programs required the section. As of the Common App's October 2, 2026 update, the count is 76: six schools dropped the requirement and one joined. The University of Washington is still on the list, but only for its Tacoma campus. The Seattle campus now uses a separate self-report system called STARS.
For seniors applying this cycle for fall 2027 entry, the timing matters most. Courses & Grades asks students to recreate their high school transcript inside the application, course by course and grade by grade, and many seniors are about to submit their first Common App for November 1 Early Decision and Early Action deadlines. Once a student submits to a college, that college keeps the version it received.
Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, and Amherst College still require the section, along with several large state universities and 22 universities abroad. If even one school on your student's list requires Courses & Grades, your student will have to complete it, and it takes about an hour of careful work. Jump to the full list of 76.
What changed since August
Five U.S. colleges and one U.K. university are off the list:
McDaniel College (MD)
Methodist University (NC)
Mississippi Valley State University (MS)
Ripon College (WI)
Springfield College (MA)
Brunel University London (United Kingdom)
The University of Bath (United Kingdom) is the one addition.
The change most likely to affect a Florida family is the University of Washington. In August, the listing covered both the Seattle and Tacoma campuses. Now it covers only Tacoma. The University of Washington Seattle requires all first-year applicants to self-report through STARS, submitted after the Common App, and it will not accept changes to that record once it is in. A student who planned on the Common App section for Seattle now needs to complete STARS as well.
What the Courses and Grades section asks for
Courses & Grades is a self-reported transcript. Students enter each completed course from grades 9 through 11 with the course title as it appears on the transcript, the level (honors, AP, IB, dual enrollment), the school's grading scale, and the grade earned each term. Senior-year courses in progress are listed separately when completing the Education page of the Common App.
Colleges use the data to recalculate GPA on their own scale, so they want the transcript copied, not interpreted. Don't convert letter grades to numbers. Don't average semester grades into a year grade unless the transcript does. Don't upgrade "Intro to Chem" to "Chemistry Honors." The University of Minnesota Twin Cities' guidance is typical: enter names as shown, even abbreviations like "EngLit/Com 10," work from a printed unofficial transcript, and budget 45 to 60 minutes.
That estimate assumes one high school and a clean transcript. Students who changed schools, took summer courses, or carry dual-enrollment credit from a local college should plan for longer, because each institution gets its own entry.
Why colleges ask for it
Most of these colleges also review an official transcript, either at application or before enrollment, so families reasonably ask why the duplication exists.
Colleges ask for it because it is faster. A self-reported transcript arrives the moment the student submits, in one standard digital format. Official transcripts arrive on the counselor's timeline in hundreds of layouts. For a large public university reading tens of thousands of files, structured course data means it can recalculate a core-academic GPA (academic courses only, electives removed) immediately.
Colleges do check. They compare the self-reported record against the official transcript, and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities states that it has the right to cancel enrollment for any student who misrepresented the academic record. An honest typo will not cost a student an admission. A pattern of inflated grades or missing courses is a different matter, and colleges treat it as misrepresentation.
Submit once, and get it right the first time
October is the month to get this section right because of how the Common App handles submitted applications. Once a student submits to a college, the Common App cannot change what that college received. Later edits go only to colleges the student has not yet submitted to. To correct an error on a submitted application, the student has to contact that college's admissions office and ask how it wants to proceed.
In practice, whatever the student enters before the first deadline is what that college sees. If a student submits to Purdue University on October 31 with a mislabeled course level, then fixes it in December before applying to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Wisconsin–Madison sees the correct record and Purdue University still has the error. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Oregon let students correct coursework afterward through STARS. Most colleges on this list don't advertise a route like that, and students should not plan on one.
Courses and Grades is not STARS
Courses & Grades lives inside the Common App and goes to colleges with the rest of the application. STARS, the Self-reported Transcript and Academic Record System (it replaced the older SSAR in 2025), is a separate website used by a different set of universities, including most of Florida's public universities.
A student applying to Purdue University through the Common App and to the University of Florida will self-report the same transcript twice, in two systems with two sets of formatting rules. Completing one does not satisfy the other. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Oregon are the exceptions on this list: both accept either Courses & Grades or a STARS record, so one completed record is enough for each.
For the STARS side, see our complete 2026–2027 list of colleges that require STARS. Our free STARS/SSAR tutorial workshop walks through that platform screen by screen.
The 76 colleges and programs that require Common App Courses and Grades (2026–27)
As of October 2, 2026, 76 colleges and programs on the Common App require Courses & Grades: 53 U.S. colleges and universities, 22 international universities, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's scholarship program. Requirements can change mid-cycle, so search this page for the schools on your student's list, then confirm each one on that college's page under My Colleges in the Common App.
A few patterns stand out. Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University all appear, alongside the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, the University of Oregon, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The list includes 12 United Kingdom universities, since schools abroad generally lack a direct way to receive American counselor documents. Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Amherst College show the requirement is not limited to high-volume public admissions offices. Ave Maria University is the only Florida school on the list, so most Florida students meet this section through their out-of-state applications.
United States (53 colleges plus the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation)
Allen University (SC)
Amherst College (MA)
Andrews University (MI)
Arizona State University (AZ)
Ave Maria University (FL)
Baker College (MI)
Bethel University (TN)
Brescia University (KY)
Carl Sandburg College (IL)
Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
East Texas Baptist University (TX)
Elizabeth City State University (NC)
Eureka College (IL)
Goshen College (IN)
Hampton University (VA)
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (scholarship program)
Kettering University (MI)
Life University (GA)
Lincoln University of Pennsylvania (PA)
List College, The Jewish Theological Seminary (NY)
Loyola Marymount University (CA)
Manor College (PA)
McKendree University (IL)
Midway University (KY)
Milligan University (TN)
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (WI)
Minerva University (CA)
Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MN)
Montreat College (NC)
Morehouse College (GA)
Newberry College (SC)
North American University (TX)
Northern Arizona University (AZ)
Oklahoma Baptist University (OK)
Oregon Institute of Technology (OR)
Prescott College (AZ)
Purdue University (IN)
Reinhardt University (GA)
Saint Vincent College (PA)
Sattler College (MA)
South Carolina State University (SC)
St. John's College (MD)
Stanford University (CA)
Sweet Briar College (VA)
University of Alaska Fairbanks (AK)
University of Arizona (AZ)
University of Charleston (WV)
University of Minnesota Twin Cities (MN) – Courses & Grades or STARS
University of Missouri–Kansas City (MO)
University of New Mexico (NM)
University of Oregon (OR) – Courses & Grades or STARS
University of Washington Tacoma (WA)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (WI)
Xavier University of Louisiana (LA)
International (22)
American University in Cairo (Egypt)
Anatolia American University (Greece)
Bishop's University (Canada)
Edinburgh Napier University (United Kingdom)
EHL Hospitality Business School (Switzerland)
ESCP Business School (France)
Franklin University Switzerland (Switzerland)
Leeds Beckett University (United Kingdom)
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Global College (China)
Taejae University (South Korea)
Ulster University (United Kingdom)
University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom)
University of Bath (United Kingdom)
University of Dundee (United Kingdom)
University of Glasgow (United Kingdom)
University of Guelph (Canada)
University of Limerick (Ireland)
University of Roehampton (United Kingdom)
University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom)
University of the Highlands and Islands (United Kingdom)
University of the West of England (United Kingdom)
University of Worcester (United Kingdom)
What seniors should do before November 1
Mark the schools on the final list that require Courses & Grades, and find the earliest deadline among them. That college keeps whatever it receives.
Print the unofficial transcript and enter from the document, not from memory, matching course titles, levels, and the grading scale as shown, including the high school's abbreviations.
Enter each high school, college, or summer program that issued its own transcript separately, and make sure each one also appears in the Education section.
Have a parent or counselor check the finished section line by line at least a week before that first deadline.
If the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Washington Seattle, or another STARS school is on the list, put STARS on the calendar too. Courses & Grades does not replace it, except at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Oregon, which accept either.
If your student adds a college in November or December, check its requirements before submitting.
This is the line-by-line check we run in JRA's two-hour Common App review, so the transcript work is done before the first deadline and the final weeks go to essays.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many colleges require Common App Courses and Grades for 2026–27?
As of October 2, 2026, 76 colleges and programs on the Common App require Courses & Grades: 75 colleges and universities plus the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. That is down from 81 in August. Six schools dropped the requirement and the University of Bath added it. The University of Washington remains on the list for its Tacoma campus only.
Can I change Courses and Grades after I submit my Common App?
Only for colleges you haven't submitted to yet. The Common App cannot change an application a college already received, so to fix an error there, contact that college's admissions office. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Oregon let you correct coursework through STARS. Complete the section carefully before your first submission.
Does the University of Washington still use Courses and Grades?
Only the Tacoma campus does. The University of Washington Seattle now requires all first-year applicants to self-report through STARS after submitting the Common App, and it does not accept changes once the STARS record is submitted. Students applying to both campuses should plan on completing both systems.
Do I still need to send an official transcript if I complete Courses and Grades?
Usually, yes. Counselors still send official transcripts to most of these colleges, and colleges verify the self-reported record before enrollment. A few, such as the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, review the application without the transcript and collect the official copy only after a student is admitted and decides to enroll.
What happens if my Courses and Grades entries don't match my transcript?
Colleges compare the two, and misrepresentation can cost a student the admission. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities, for example, reserves the right to cancel enrollment for students who misrepresented their academic record. A simple typo won't sink an application, but inflated grades or omitted courses can. Enter everything from an unofficial transcript.
JRA Educational Consulting works with families on college lists, applications, and essays, including the transcript details colleges check. To learn more, visit JRA Educational Consulting.
