1. 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

2. GPA Terms Quality points Grade Points A 4 B 3 C 2 D 1 F
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.
Grade
Points A 4 B 3 C 2 D 1 F

3. John Doe’s FALL ‘15 grades
To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points (QP) by the Total Attempted Hours
Class
Hours
Grade
Quality Points
SCI 1010 3 D 1
FA 1040 A 4
COMM 1010
ENGL 1010 F
Grade
Points
Total Attempted Hours
12 ( )
Total Quality Points
27 ( )
27 divided by 12 = 2.25
John Doe earned a 2.25 GPA for the Fall 2015 semester.
Calculating quality points
Hours QP
Total Quality Points
3 x
1 = 3
4 = 12
0 =

4. Try this exercise on your own
Try this exercise on your own. What is John Doe’s GPA for the Spring 2016 semester?
John Doe’s spring ’16 grades
To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points by the Total Attempted Hours
Class
Hours
Grade
Quality Points
MATH 1060 3 C
_____
UNIV 1000 1 B
HIST 1010 D
ENGL 2110
SOWK 2090 A
Grade
Points
Total Attempted Hours
_________
Total Quality Points
____ divided by ____ = ________
John Doe has a ________ GPA for the Spring 2016 semester.

5. 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.

6. Class Hours Grade Quality Points
Answer key to slide 4
To get the GPA, divide the Total Quality Points by the Total Attempted Hours
Class
Hours
Grade
Quality Points
MATH 1060 3 C 6
UNIV 1000 1 B
HIST 1010 D
ENGL 2110 9
SOWK 2090 A 12
Grade
Points
Total Attempted Hours 13
Total Quality Points 33
33 divided by 13= 2.538
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?