Grade Point Average Calculations

Quality Points

Quality points are awarded based on the letter grade that you earn in a class.  These points are then directly used to calculate your GPA.  The breakdown of points earned for each letter grade is as follows:

A = 4 points per credit hour 
B = 3 points per credit hour
C = 2 points per credit hour
D = 1 point per credit hour
F = 0 points per credit hour

To get the total number of credit points earned for a grade in a specific class use the following formula:

A = 4X (number of credit hours the class is worth) = total quality points for class
B = 3X (number of credit hours the class is worth) = total quality points for class
C = 2X (number of credit hours the class is worth) = total quality points for class
D = 1X (number of credit hours the class is worth) = total quality points for class
F = 0

Let’s say that you take two classes and the grades are as follows:

MATH 118 – C
ENGL 101 – B

These are both three credit hour classes so to figure out how many credit points you earned you would do this:

MATH 118 – C = 2 X 3 = 6 points 
ENGL 101 – B = 3 X 3 = 9 points

Quality Hours and GPA

Quality hours are the number of credit hours it has taken you to earn a given number of quality points and along with quality points are used to calculate your GPA. 

Let’s look at the previous example and calculate the GPA:

MATH 118 (3hrs) – C – 6 points
ENGL 101 (3hrs) – B – 9 points 

To figure out the GPA divide the total number of quality points by the total number of quality hours:

15 points/6 hours = 2.5 GPA

That’s all there is to it.  You can use this formula to calculate a semester GPA or an overall GPA.