What Is Grade Point Average?
A grade point average, frequently abbreviated GPA, provides a standard, numeric way to look at grades and to compare average academic performance. Grade point averages are important criteria in admission to colleges, graduate schools and other programs, and can also be a factor in employment.
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Grade Values
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In the grade point average system, each letter grade is assigned a numeric point value. Typically, A is 4 points, B is 3, C is 2, D is 1 and F is 0. Schools that have plus and minus grades typically add or subtract .3 from the point value. A grade of B+ would then be given a point value of 3.3, while a grade of B- would be worth 2.7 points. Some schools weight pluses and minuses differently.
Class Weight
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In many schools, classes are worth different numbers of credit hours, depending on how much time, work and depth they involve. Grade point averages take this in to account, factoring classes with more credit hours more heavily in the GPA.
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Calculation
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To calculate a student's GPA for a semester or year, the point value of each grade is multiplied by the credit hours the course is worth to find the grade point value of the course. These grade points are then added up and divided by the total number of credit hours to determine the grade point average. For example, to determine the grade point average of a four-credit class that earned an A and two-credit class that earned a B+, the credit hours of each course would first be multiplied by the points value. The value for the A, 4, would be multiplied by 4 to equal 16, while the point value for the B+, 3.3, would be multiplied by 3 to equal 9.9. These two numbers would be added to equal 25.9 and then divided by the total number of credit hours, 7, to reach a grade point average of 3.7.
Honors and AP
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In some schools, particularly high schools, certain kinds of classes are given higher point values. Honors and AP classes, for example, are frequently worth an additional point, so that an A is a 5 and a B is a 4.
Other Systems
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Not all schools rank academic performance with a GPA. Some use a purely numeric system, where students might receive percent grades in each class that are averaged together to produce one percent grade that represents their total academic performance. Others reject the use of grades entirely, instead determining only whether students have done sufficiently in a course to pass and providing feedback in the form of individual comments.
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