HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR GPA UNDERSTAND THE TERMS & LEARN HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR GPA Created by Academic Advising Services of Northwestern State University of Louisiana February 2016

GPA TERMS GPA: Grade Point Average Quality Points: A numerical value assigned to each of the letter grades “A” – “F”. Refer to the table to the right. Attempted Hours: The total number of hours a student attempts during a semester. GradePoints A4 B3 C2 D1 F0 QUALITY POINTS

ClassHoursGradeQuality Points MATH 09203D1 FA 10403A4 COMM 10103A4 ENGL 10103F0 JOHN DOE’S FALL ‘15 GRADES GradePoints Total Attempted Hours12 ( ) Total Quality Points27 ( ) To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points (QP) by the Total Attempted Hours 27 divided by 12 = 2.25 John Doe earned a 2.25 GPA for the Spring ‘13 semester. HoursQPTotal Quality Points 3 x1 =3 3 x4 =12 3 x4 =12 3 x0 =0 CALCULATING QUALITY POINTS

ClassHoursGradeQuality Points MATH 10603C_____ UNIV 10001B_____ HIST 10103D_____ ENGL 21103B_____ SOWK 20903A_____ JOHN DOE’S SPRING ’16 GRADES GradePoints Total Attempted Hours_________ Total Quality Points_________ To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points by the Total Attempted Hours ____ divided by ____ = ________ John Doe has a ________ GPA for the Fall ‘14 semester. Try this exercise on your own. What is John Doe’s GPA for the Fall ‘14 semester?

WAIT! If you haven’t completed the exercise from slide 4 (the previous slide), please take a moment to do so now. The answer key is on the following slide.

ClassHoursGradeQuality Points MATH 10603C6 UNIV 10001B 3 HIST 10103D 3 ENGL 21103B 9 SOWK 20903A12 ANSWER KEY TO SLIDE 4 GradePoints Total Attempted Hours13 Total Quality Points33 To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points by the Total Attempted Hours 33 divided by 13= John Doe has a 2.54 GPA for the Spring 2016 semester. *Note John’s final grades in UNIV 1000 and HIST 1010 generated the same quality points (3 QP per class) even though UNIV 1000 is a 1-hour class and HIST 1010 is a 3-hour class. This example shows the impact one low grade has on a semester a GPA. If John had earned a final grade of “B” in HIST 1010, what would have been his fall semester GPA?