"1.5 HS GPA would only realistically get into an open admission college like a community college. "
Right, but all the kids in the study got into a 4-year college including those with below 2.0 GPAs and in some cases below a 17 ACT. They didn’t include kids who went to a c/c or military. It’s interesting data, but you have to know the colleges and majors the kids went to before you made any policy decisions from it though.