3/22/06

"An 80 GPA is NOT what it used to be"

Changes in the HOPE Scholarship GPA Calculation

and Eligibility for 2007

 

1. Changes apply to ALL Georgia High School graduates who begin their college careers on or after May 1, 2007, regardless of previous HOPE eligibility determinations. Students who graduate in 2006 (under the old HOPE regulations) and postpone college enrollment until the 2006-07 college year will have to meet the new HOPE eligibility requirements.

 

2. Changes in HOPE Scholarship eligibility were made by the Georgia General Assembly in April 2004. The statute governing these changes is 20-2-157 O.C.G.A, and may be viewed at http://www.leqis.state.qa.us//cai-bin/alcodesdetail.pl?code=20-2-157

 

3.  All Georgia high schools must send complete transcripts with all course history to the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), who will determine HOPE Scholarship GPAs and eligibility.   Local high schools will no longer calculate the HOPE GPA for their graduates.

 

4. Graduates completing a College Prep (CP) Diploma must have a 3.0 GPA on a TRUE 4.0 scale. (The numerical GPA will no longer be considered)

 

5. Graduates completing other diploma types (Le., Technology/Career Prep) must have a 3.2 GPA on   a TRUE 4.0 scale. (The numerical GPA will not be considered).    .

 

6. The following scale will be used to convert numerical grades to a TRUE 4.0 scale:

A = 4.0  (for most schools: 90-100, but your school's scale will be used to convert)

B = 3.0  (for most schools: 80-89, but your school's scale will be used to convert)

C = 2.0  (for most schools: 70-79, but your school's scale will be used to convert)

D = 1.0  (for schools who use a D in their grading scale)

F = 0     (for most schools this is a failing grade of 69 or below)

 

7. The grades for ALL attempted (passed and failed) academic courses will be converted to a TRUE 4.0 scale for calculation of the HOPE GPA. The following academic courses will be counted in the HOPE GPA calculation:

> ALL English courses with course numbers beginning with 23.

> ALL Mathematics courses with course numbers beginning with 27.

> ALL Science courses beginning with 26. and 40 plus Animal Sciences (02.x210) and  

   Plant Sciences (02.x41 0).

> ALL Social Studies courses beginning with 45.

> ALL Foreign Language courses beginning with 60.-64. (College Prep diploma only).

8. Algebra I and other 8th grade courses that students received credit for in Middle School will NOT

       Be used to calculate the HOPE GPA.

9. All grades that are weighted at the local high school level for honors, gifted, PreAP and Advanced

     Placement and International Baccalaureate will be stripped of their weights by GSFC. Weighting of grades will become uniform across the State to calculate the HOPE GPA. However, local high schools can continue to add weights to grades in specific courses to calculate rank in class and determine honor graduates, valedictorian and salutatorian.

10. GSFC will add a .5 quality point weight on a TRUE 4.0 scale for Advanced Placement {AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses up to a maximum grade value of 4.0 (A's are not weighted). No other courses will be weighted by the GSFC unless authorized by the Georgia General Assembly.

11. The final HOPE GPA on a 4.0 scale will not be rounded up.

 

 

Sample 4.0 Conversions of Numerical Grades

Assumes Equal Credit Values for All Courses

COLLEGE PREP DIPLOMA

Course             Grade              4.0 Conversion

English               88                               3.0

English               89                               3.0

English               82                               3.0

English               87                               3.0

Math                   85                               3.0

Math                   82                               3.0

Math                   80                               3.0

Math                  78                               2.0

Science              89                               3.0

Science              81                               3.0

Science              80                               3.0

Social Studies     85                               3.0

Social Studies     89                               3.0

Social Studies     88                               3.0

Spanish              82                               3.0

Spanish              88                               3.0

--------------------------------------------------­

1343+16=84.56 47+16=2.9375

(HOPE eligible under old rule                  (Not HOPE eligible under new rules-­

Of minimum 80 GPA for CP diploma)       Required minimum of 3.0 GPA for CP diploma.

 NO Rounding up.)

 

TECHNOLOGY CAREER PREP DIPLOMA

Course             Grade              4.0 Conversion

English               80                               3.0
English               69                               0
English               92                               4.0
English               85                               3.0
English               91                               4.0

Math                   85                               3.0

Math                   88                               3.0

Math                   90                               4.0

Science              88                               3.0

Science              85                               3.0
Science              87                               3.0

Social Studies     78                               2.0

Social Studies     82                               3.0       

Social Studies     90                               4.0

------------------------------------------------­

1190+14= 85.0               42+14 = 3.0

 (HOPE eligible under old rule                 (Not eligible for HOPE under new regulations--

of 85 min. numerical GPA                       Required minimum 3.2 GPA for TCP diploma)

for a TCP diploma)

Modification of an original document prepared by Janice Baker, Department Head

                                                Lowndes High School Guidance and Counseling Department