Grade-Point Average Calculations
GPA Calculator is published from this link.
Finding an average grade or grade-point average for any group of courses (for a term, in a particular department or discipline, over your entire W&L career, even between institutions) is a matter of simple arithmetic. Other than the term, year, or cumulative grade-point averages maintained officially by the University Registrar's Office, W&L does not calculate, maintain, or report other types of averages. Students and alumni should calculate those themselves from the information below.
At W&L, each grade is worth a certain number of grade points, according to the following scales.
Undergraduate Grade-Point Average
"A student's average grade is expressed in terms of a grade-point average and is based on a four-point scale. For this computation, there are assigned, respectively, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 0 grade points for each credit of work on which the grades A, B, C, D, E, and F are recorded. For every unit of plus, (with the exception of A+ beginning in 2009-10), .33 is added; for every unit of minus, .33 is subtracted from the grade points. F+, I, and WIP are not used in the grade-point average computation, since they are only provisional grades. The grade-point average is the quotient obtained by dividing the sum of the grade points by the total number of credits on work attempted. Work attempted includes all courses for which the student was registered, except those from which the student was permitted to withdraw with no grade or for which the grade of P was assigned."
| Undergraduate Grade | Points | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.00 | Superior | (was 4.33 until Spring 2009) |
| A | 4.00 | Superior | |
| A- | 3.67 | Superior | |
| B+ | 3.33 | Good | |
| B | 3.00 | Good | |
| B- | 2.67 | Good | |
| C+ | 2.33 | Fair | |
| C | 2.00 | Fair | |
| C- | 1.67 | Fair | |
| D+ | 1.33 | Marginal | (seriously handicapped in further study) |
| D | 1.00 | Marginal | |
| D- | 0.67 | Marginal | |
| E | 0.00 | Conditional Failure | |
| F | 0.00 | Unconditional Failure |
Law Grade-Point Average
"A letter grading system is used. The grades are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, I (Incomplete), or WIP (Work-in-Progress). Their weights are 4.0, 3.67, 3.33, 3.0, 2.67, 2.33, 2.0, 1.67, 1.33, 1.0, 0.67, 0.0. In ungraded (credit only) courses (Independent Research and Tutorials), the supervising faculty member may enter a grade of I or F in appropriate circumstances. ... A student's cumulative average is computed by averaging the grades received in all courses taken, on the basis of the number of semester hours of credit accorded to each course."
| Law Grade | Points |
|---|---|
| A | 4.00 |
| A- | 3.67 |
| B+ | 3.33 |
| B | 3.00 |
| B- | 2.67 |
| C+ | 2.33 |
| C | 2.00 |
| C- | 1.67 |
| D+ | 1.33 |
| D | 1.00 |
| D- | 0.67 |
| F | 0.00 |
Calculation
The grade points for a course are found by multiplying the number of credits awarded for the course times the appropriate grade points. For this and other grade calculations, Pass, Incomplete (I), Work-in-Progress (WIP) or No Grade Reported (NGR) entries do not count and should not be used.
For example, a 4-credit class graded C-:
4 times 1.67 = 6.68 grade points
Add up the graded credits for each course, then add up the grade points for each course and divide. For example:
| Credits | Grade | Grade Points |
|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | A- | 11.10 |
| 3.0 | C | 6.00 |
| 4.0 | B+ | 13.32 |
| 3.0 | B | 9.00 |
| 1.0 | F | 0.00 |
| 14.0 | 39.33 |
The grade-point average, rounded to three decimal places, of these courses is
39.33 divided by 14 = 2.809
Or just use the GPA calculator spreadsheet.