Calculating Your CASPA GPAs

Last updated
Save as PDF

Overview

During verification, CASPA uses the information you entered in the Transcript Entry section to calculate several GPAs, including GPAs for each institution you attended. To calculate these GPAs, each A-F or 0-100 grade you entered in the Grade field is first converted to a CASPA numeric grade value, then multiplied by the attempted credits. The resulting product is Quality Points.

Your total Quality Points are then divided by your Attempted Credits to determine your GPA.

Non-graded credits are not included in your GPAs. Non-graded credits are earned credits for which you did not receive actual letter grades (e.g., advanced placement credits, "pass" or "satisfactory" credits, college board AP exams, courses taken as pass/fail, etc.). Note: a grade of WF (i.e., equivalent of a withdrawn with penalty, withdrawn failing, etc.) is factored into GPA calculations as an F.

CASPA calculates all GPAs in semester hours. Courses that were completed in quarter hours are converted to semester hours. The conversion ratio is 1.0 quarter hour = 0.667 semester hours.

Use the GPA Calculator to see how CASPA will calculate your GPA.

Example:

Course	Transcript Grade	Converted Numeric Grade Value	Attempted Credits	Calculation	Quality Points
MATH 1100	A	4	4	4 x 4	16
ENGL 1310	B	3	3	3 x 3	9
GEOL 1610	C	2	4	2 x 4	8
PHED 1000	D	1	3	1 x 3	3
PSCI 1040	F	0	3	0 x 3	0
Total			17		36
GPA Calculation: 36 (Quality Points) / 17 (Attempted Credits) = 2.12 (GPA)

CASPA GPA Types

Year-Level GPAs

Using Quality Points, CASPA calculates a GPA for each academic year. GPAs from your Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior academic years are subsequently:

Combined with any post-baccalaureate coursework to create a cumulative undergraduate GPA, and
Combined with any post-baccalaureate coursework plus any graduate coursework to create an overall GPA.

Year-Level GPA Example:

Year	Credits	Quality Points	GPA
Freshman	66	166.2	2.52
Sophomore	48	119.4	2.49
Junior	66	223.2	3.38
Senior	60	169.2	2.82
Total	240	678.0	2.83
Post-Baccalaureate	28	112.0	4.00
Cumulative Undergraduate	268	790.0	2.95
Graduate	66	245.4	3.72
Overall	334	1035.4	3.10

Course Subject Category GPAs

CASPA breaks down your overall GPA by course subject category (regardless of academic year). During verification, CASPA makes changes to course subjects that are categorized incorrectly, ensuring these GPAs reflect the appropriate coursework.

Note: Biology/Zoology, Inorganic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics are used to create a BCP Totals GPA.

Course Subject Category GPA Example:

Course Subject Category	Graded Credits	Quality Points	GPA	Credits < 2.0	Total Credits
Biology/Zoology	84.0	270.0	3.21	3.0	84.0
Inorganic Chemistry	6.0	15.0	2.50	0.0	6.0
Organic Chemistry	6.0	18.0	3.00	0.0	6.0
Biochemistry	12.0	31.8	2.65	0.0	12.0
Physics	6.0	13.8	2.30	0.0	6.0
BCP Totals	114.0	348.6	3.06	3.0	114.0
Other Science	3.0	12.0	4.00	0.0	3.0
Math	15.0	40.8	2.72	3.0	15.0
English	12.0	43.8	3.65	0.0	12.0
Behavioral Science	15.0	45.6	3.04	0.0	15.0
Other Non-Science	8.0	26.9	3.36	0.0	8.0
Total	167.0	517.7	3.10	6.0	167.0

Science and Non-Science GPAs

CASPA divides each Year-Level GPA into Science, Non-Science, and Total (science plus non-science) sections.

Science GPA is calculated using the following course subject categories:

Non-Science GPA is calculated using the following course subject categories:

In the following example, note that the applicant's overall science GPA is 3.08, overall non-science GPA is 3.14, and overall total GPA is 3.10.

Science and Non-Science GPA Example:

	Category
	Science			Non-Science			Total
Year	Credits	Quality Points	GPA	Credits	Quality Points	GPA	Credits	Quality Points	GPA
Freshman	18.0	42.6	2.37	15.0	40.5	2.70	33.0	83.1	2.52
Sophomore	18.0	49.8	2.77	6.0	9.9	1.65	24.0	59.7	2.49
Junior	18.0	60.9	3.38	15.0	50.7	3.38	33.0	111.6	3.38
Senior	30.0	84.6	2.82	0.0	0.0	0.00	30.0	84.6	2.82
Total	84.0	237.9	2.83	36.0	101.1	2.81	120.0	339.0	2.82
Post Baccalaureate	3.0	12.0	4.00	11.0	44.0	4.00	14.0	56.0	4.00
Cumulative Undergraduate	87.0	249.9	2.87	47.0	145.1	3.09	134.0	395.0	2.95
Graduate	30.0	110.7	3.69	3.0	12.0	4.00	33.0	122.7	3.72
Overall	117.0	360.6	3.08	50.0	157.1	3.14	167.0	517.7	3.10