Calculating GPA
THE BASICS:
GPA = Grade Point Average --> An average of "quality points" earned.
WEIGHTED GPA = the most common GPA reported and includes bonuses for taking Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or Dual Enrollment (DE) course.
CUMULATIVE GPA = average of all grades without any bonus, also called state GPA & unweighted GPA.
QUALITY POINTS = number value for letter grades, as follows
A=4 B=3 C=2 D=1 F=0
AP/DE = +0.08 added to the weighted GPA for every AP/DE grade earned.
In the above example, if the student took one credit of an honors class (2 semesters), the new GPA would be:
2 semesters of Honors = 0.04 x 2=0.08+3.5=3.58
If instead of Honors, the class was an AP or DE class:
2 semesters of AP/DE = 0.08 x 2=0.16+3.5=3.66
GPA = Grade Point Average --> An average of "quality points" earned.
WEIGHTED GPA = the most common GPA reported and includes bonuses for taking Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or Dual Enrollment (DE) course.
CUMULATIVE GPA = average of all grades without any bonus, also called state GPA & unweighted GPA.
QUALITY POINTS = number value for letter grades, as follows
A=4 B=3 C=2 D=1 F=0
- Example: 9th grade student took seven classes in semester 1 (fall) and earned 2 A's, 2 B's & 3 C's.
- A+A+B+B+B+C+C --> 4+4+3+3+3+2+2=21 divided by 7=3.00 GPA
- Same student in semester 2 (spring) improves and earns all A's & 3 B's.
- A+A+A+A+A+A+A --> 4+4+4+4+4+4+4=28 divided by 7=4.0 GPA for the semester,
- so the total is an average of all grades --> 21+28=49 divided by 14 = 3.50 GPA
AP/DE = +0.08 added to the weighted GPA for every AP/DE grade earned.
In the above example, if the student took one credit of an honors class (2 semesters), the new GPA would be:
2 semesters of Honors = 0.04 x 2=0.08+3.5=3.58
If instead of Honors, the class was an AP or DE class:
2 semesters of AP/DE = 0.08 x 2=0.16+3.5=3.66
Bright Futures GPA
Bright Futures only uses 16 credits to calculate the GPA to award the Bright Futures Scholarship.
4 English
4 Math3 Science
3 Social Studies2 World Language (Sequential )
Bright Future does not add bonuses at the end, but gives different values for grades in AP, DE, and Honors.
The following is from the Bright Futures Student Handbook:
High School GPA Evaluation for Bright Futures includes an unrounded, weighted high school GPA (calculated to two decimal places) in the 16 college-preparatory credits. The following courses are weighted .25 per semester course or
.50 per year course in the calculation of the GPA:
4 English
4 Math3 Science
3 Social Studies2 World Language (Sequential )
Bright Future does not add bonuses at the end, but gives different values for grades in AP, DE, and Honors.
The following is from the Bright Futures Student Handbook:
High School GPA Evaluation for Bright Futures includes an unrounded, weighted high school GPA (calculated to two decimal places) in the 16 college-preparatory credits. The following courses are weighted .25 per semester course or
.50 per year course in the calculation of the GPA:
- Advanced Placement (AP),
- Pre-International Baccalaureate (Pre-IB),
- International Baccalaureate (IB), Honors,
- PreAdvanced International Certificate of Education (Pre-AICE),
- Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), or
- academic Dual Enrollment.