How to Calculate GPA
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1) Calculating GPA is not as complicated as it may seem. There are only two things you need to know about each of the courses included in the calculation:
- Credit Hours
- Letter Grade
2) Once you have that information for all the courses included in the calculation, you need to use the following conversion system to get the GPA for each course:
NOTE: This is Alfred State College's letter grade to GPA conversion system, other colleges my convert differently.
A - 4.0
B+ - 3.5
B - 3.0
C+ - 2.5
C - 2.0
D+ - 1.5
D - 1.0
F - 0.0
S - Not included in Final GPA
U - Not included in Final GPA
3) Next, you need to calculate the Total Credit Hours by taking the sum of all the credits you will be receiving. Since letter grades of S and U are not included in the GPA subtract any Credits received from a letter grade of S or U to get the GPA Credit Hours.
4) After that, you will need to get the Quality Points for each course. To get the Quality Points you simply multiply the GPA and the Credit Hours for that course. So a course with 4 credit hours and a letter grade of B will have 12 Quality Points.
5) Finally, to get your Final GPA take the sum of all you Quality Points and divide them but your GPA Credit Hours.
Total Credit Hours = 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 20
GPA Hours = 20 - 1 = 19
Total Quality Points = 16.0 + 10.0 + 10.5 + 3.0 + 15.0 + 0.0 = 54.5
Total Quality Points: 54.5
Final GPA = 54.5 / 19 = 2.868 (GPA is rounded 2 decmial places) = 2.87
- Credit Hours
- Letter Grade
2) Once you have that information for all the courses included in the calculation, you need to use the following conversion system to get the GPA for each course:
NOTE: This is Alfred State College's letter grade to GPA conversion system, other colleges my convert differently.
A - 4.0
B+ - 3.5
B - 3.0
C+ - 2.5
C - 2.0
D+ - 1.5
D - 1.0
F - 0.0
S - Not included in Final GPA
U - Not included in Final GPA
3) Next, you need to calculate the Total Credit Hours by taking the sum of all the credits you will be receiving. Since letter grades of S and U are not included in the GPA subtract any Credits received from a letter grade of S or U to get the GPA Credit Hours.
4) After that, you will need to get the Quality Points for each course. To get the Quality Points you simply multiply the GPA and the Credit Hours for that course. So a course with 4 credit hours and a letter grade of B will have 12 Quality Points.
5) Finally, to get your Final GPA take the sum of all you Quality Points and divide them but your GPA Credit Hours.
Example:
1) Gathering Course Information
| Course 1 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: A |
Course 2 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: C+ |
| Course 3 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: B+ |
Course 4 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: D |
| Course 5 Credit Hours: 5 Letter Grade: B |
Course 6 Credit Hours: 1 Letter Grade: S |
2) Converting the Letter Grade to GPA Grade:
| Course 1 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: A ==> GPA Grade: 4.0 |
Course 2 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: C+ ==> GPA Grade: 2.5 |
| Course 3 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: B+ ==> GPA Grade: 3.5 |
Course 4 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: D ==> GPA Grade: 1.0 |
| Course 5 Credit Hours: 5 Letter Grade: B ==> GPA Grade: 3.0 |
Course 6 Credit Hours: 1 Letter Grade: S ==> GPA Grade: N/A |
3) Calculating the Total Credit Hours and GPA Hours:
| Course 1 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: A ==> GPA Grade: 4.0 |
Course 2 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: C+ ==> GPA Grade: 2.5 |
| Course 3 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: B+ ==> GPA Grade: 3.5 |
Course 4 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: D ==> GPA Grade: 1.0 |
| Course 5 Credit Hours: 5 Letter Grade: B ==> GPA Grade: 3.0 |
Course 6 Credit Hours: 1 Letter Grade: S ==> GPA Grade: N/A |
Total Credit Hours = 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 20
GPA Hours = 20 - 1 = 19
4) Calculating Quality Points for each course and Total Quality Points:
| Course 1 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: A ==> GPA Grade: 4.0 Quality Points = 4 * 4.0 = 16.0 |
Course 2 Credit Hours: 4 Letter Grade: C+ ==> GPA Grade: 2.5 Quality Points = 4 * 2.5 = 10.0 |
| Course 3 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: B+ ==> GPA Grade: 3.5 Quality Points = 3 * 3.5 = 10.5 |
Course 4 Credit Hours: 3 Letter Grade: D ==> GPA Grade: 1.0 Quality Points = 3 * 1.0 = 3.0 |
| Course 5 Credit Hours: 5 Letter Grade: B ==> GPA Grade: 3.0 Quality Points = 5 * 3.0 = 15.0 |
Course 6 Credit Hours: 1 Letter Grade: S ==> GPA Grade: N/A Quality Points = 1 * 0.0 = 0.0 |
Total Quality Points = 16.0 + 10.0 + 10.5 + 3.0 + 15.0 + 0.0 = 54.5
5) Calculating the Final GPA
GPA Hours: 19Total Quality Points: 54.5
Final GPA = 54.5 / 19 = 2.868 (GPA is rounded 2 decmial places) = 2.87