Calculate your QPA (quality point average) from course grades and credit hours, update a cumulative QPA, or find the average needed to hit a target.

Plus/minus grades use .3/.7 steps (A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3). Some schools count A+ as 4.33.

Use the credit hours your school counts toward QPA. Leave a course’s grade on Not included to skip it.

Courses 5–6

QPA Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the QPA of a student.

QPA = QP / CH
  • Where QPA is the quality point average
  • QP is the total number of quality points earned in all classes
  • CH is the total number of institution-counted graded credit hours, including failed-course hours when the institution counts them

To calculate the quality point average, divide total quality points by the graded credit hours counted under the institution’s policy. Credits excluded from the average are excluded from both totals.

The quality points themselves are calculated using the following formula:

QP = CH * G

  • Where CH are the credit hours of the class
  • G is the numerical grade-point value assigned to the class grade, not its percentage score

What is QPA?

Definition:

QPA is the ratio of quality points to institution-counted graded credits or units. Failed courses can contribute zero quality points while their attempted credits still count in the denominator. Use your institution’s rules for repeats, exclusions and grading scales.

What's the difference between GPA and QPA?

GPA and QPA are often names for the same credit-weighted average: sum of grade points times counted credits, divided by counted credits. Terminology and inclusion rules vary by institution. See the Carnegie Mellon transcript legend and University of Maryland GPA calculation for institutional examples.

How to calculate QPA?

Example Problem:

The following example problem outlines how to calculate QPA (quality point average).

First, calculate the quality points in each class and add them together. This is done by multiplying the number grade by the credit hours. For example, a 3.0 (B) grade in a 3-credit class would be 3*3 = 9 quality points.

In this example, adding all the quality points together yields a total of 40.

Next, add together all of the credit hours of the classes together. In this example, there are 15 total credit hours.

Finally, calculate the QPA using the formula above:

QPA = QP / CH

QPA = 40/15

QPA ≈ 2.6667