What do grade points, credits, and Grade Point Average (GPA) refer to?![20140818bja-1st-day-de25[1]](https://bjacademy.wpenginepowered.com/files/2011/02/20140818bja-1st-day-de251-300x200.jpg)
![20140818bja-1st-day-de25[1]](https://bjacademy.wpenginepowered.com/files/2011/02/20140818bja-1st-day-de251.jpg)
Grade Points: numeric value assigned to a letter grade (e.g., A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0)
Credit: numeric value assigned for successful completion of a course
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- High School Courses — A high school course that meets 5 days a week for 50-minute class periods—one half credit (0.5) is earned for each semester; a course that meets 2 or 3 days a week for 50-minute class periods (e.g., Bible) earns one quarter credit (0.25) each semester.
- Dual Credit Courses —Typically 1 high school credit is earned for each 3-credit college course taken for dual credit. (See dual credit page for more information.)
Grade Point Average: a student’s total grade points divided by his total credits
Grade Points and GPA Scale at BJA
Weighted scale (the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy GPA—used to qualify for SC scholarships, such as the LIFE scholarship; establish class rank; and to qualify for varsity sports, forensics, dual credit, etc.). On the weighted scale, honors courses earn an additional 0.5, and dual credit courses earn an additional 1.0, as can be seen in the chart below. Dual credit classes, as college classes, do not earn either A+ or D+ grades.
| Letter Grade | College Prep | Honors | Dual Credit |
| A+ | 4.9 | 5.4 | |
| A | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.5 |
| A- | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.1 |
| B+ | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
| B | 3.45 | 3.95 | 4.45 |
| B- | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| C+ | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
| C | 2.45 | 2.95 | 3.45 |
| C- | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.1 |
| D+ | 1.8 | 2.3 | |
| D | 1.45 | 1.95 | 2.45 |
| D- | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.1 |
| F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
When transferring to a South Carolina public high school, letter grades are converted to the numeric scale. All grades within a particular letter (e.g. B+, B, B-) are assigned the same number and related SC UGP GPA. Courses taken prior to 2016-17 transfer in on the 7-point scale with the following conversions. A: 96; B: 88; C: 80; D: 73; F: 61. Courses taken from 2016-17 forward transfer in on the 10-point scale with the following conversions. A: 95; B: 85; C: 75; D: 65; F: 51.
Semester Grading
At BJA semester grades for a particular course are not averaged to create a final yearlong grade; instead, each semester’s grade is final. This means that credit is awarded at the end of each semester and that a student who earns a passing grade in a course one semester does not have to repeat that semester of the course even he does not pass the other semester. However, certain courses build in such a way that unless the student passes the first semester, he is not likely to be adequately prepared to pass the second semester of that course.
A student who fails first semester does not continue into the second semester of the following courses: Physical Science, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Keyboarding, and foreign languages. If the course is required, the student repeats the first semester the following year (or during summer school if the course is offered) and then takes the second semester of the course.