…Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.—Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion (Lee 1991)

Over 20 years ago, Maxwell and Lopus (1994) identified what has since been referred to as the “Lake Wobegon” effect in economic education research. Given that student self-reported data is a ubiquitous feature of empirically based economic education research, the potential for systematic misreporting raises significant concerns about biased estimates and misinterpretation of results when nonrandom reporting occurs. Using data from 509 students surveyed at two universities, we too find the Lake Wobegon effect. We consider factors that influence the degree and direction of the potential misreporting of current cumulative GPA. Consistent with past studies, we examine differences in means and use OLS estimation. Going beyond earlier work, as our survey was administered in the classroom, we incorporate information about situational factors relevant to the student while completing the survey. We also evaluate density, deciles, and use quantile analysis to more completely characterize the sources of the Lake Wobegon effect. This additional analysis shows that what might at first glance appear to be a difference in mean values might actually be driven by heteroscedasticity associated with the GPA, which differs across gender. Also, survey conditions have a systematic impact on self-reported values of academic performance. A better understanding of these influences might more aptly inform economic education research in both study techniques and conclusions drawn from data.