GPA Calculations

At Pearl River Community College, we know that many of our students strive to maintain a certain GPA in order to qualify for scholarships, group memberships, special recognitions, and even acceptance into universities and programs.  

First, it’s important to know a little about different types of GPAs. 

  • Institutional GPA – Your institutional GPA considers all coursework completed at PRCC, including courses that may not count towards your PRCC degree. Your institutional GPA only considers your highest grade in each course that you may have repeated. Your institutional GPA does not consider any transfer credits. 
  • Transfer GPA – Your transfer GPA considers all transfer coursework that PRCC has accepted and posted to your transcript. Your transfer GPA does not consider any coursework completed at PRCC. 
  • Overall GPA – Your overall GPA considers all coursework, including courses that may not count towards your PRCC degree and including transfer coursework that PRCC has accepted and posted to your transcript. Your overall GPA only considers your highest grade in each course that you may have repeated. 
  • Degree GPA – Your degree GPA is not seen on your transcript. Your degree GPA can be found in Degree Works and considers only courses used towards your degree. Your degree GPA is used to award honors and special honors status at graduation.  

While PRCC does provide each of these GPAs to you on either your transcript or in Degree Works at the completion of each semester, we understand that you may want to attempt to calculate your GPA on your own before your official results have been released.  

Now that you know more about GPAs, you can try your hand at calculating your own GPA. 

PRCC’s GPA calculations are completed based on quality points earned in each course along with the number of credit hours awarded for each course. 

Quality Points Conversion Chart

GradeQuality Points
A4
B3
C2
D1
F0

Example GPA Calculations

1Determine how many credit hours each course is worth.

Credit hours can be found on the transcript under “hours” or “credit hours” or in the college catalog (see below).
Example
ENG 1113 – 3 credit hours
BAD 1113 – 3 credit hours
BIO 1113 – 3 credit hours
BIO 1111 – 1 credit hour
LLS 1313 – 3 credit hours
PSY 1513 – 3 credit hours

2Add up the credit hours for all courses that will be included in the GPA.Example
3+3+3+1+3+3 = 16 total credit hours
3List the grade earned in each course.Example
ENG 1113 – A
BAD 1113 – C
BIO 1113 – B
BIO 1111 – A
LLS 1313 – A
PSY 1513 – C
4Convert the grade earned to quality points using the Quality Point Conversion Chart above.Example
ENG 1113 – A = 4 quality points per credit hour
BAD 1113 – C = 2 quality points per credit hour
BIO 1113 – B = 3 quality points per credit hour
BIO 1111 – A = 4 quality points per credit hour
LLS 1313 – A = 4 quality points per credit hour
PSY 1513 – C = 2 quality points per credit hour
5Determine the total number of quality points earned for each course.Example
ENG 1113 – 3 credit hours x 4 quality points = 12 quality points
BAD 1113 – 3 credit hours x 2 quality points = 6 quality points
BIO 1113 – 3 credit hours x 3 quality points = 9 quality points
BIO 1111 – 1 credit hour x 4 quality points = 4 quality points
LLS 1313 – 3 credit hours x 4 quality points = 12 quality points
PSY 1513 – 3 credit hours x 2 quality points = 6 quality points
6Add all of the quality points.Example
12+6+9+4+12+6 = 49 total quality points
7Calculate the GPA.
Total Quality Points ÷ Total Credit Hours
You may remove all but 2 decimal places, but do not round up.
Example
49 total quality points ÷ 16 total credit hours = 3.0625
GPA = 3.06

Click Here for printable instructions and calculation chart

GPA calculations are very sensitive. Any mathematical error could make a large difference. For the most accurate GPA, you should refer to your final transcript and/or Degree Works (Degree GPA).

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