Your Grade Point Average (GPA)

Grades and Repeating Courses

Taking Courses Passed/Not Passed (P/NP)

The College of Letters and Science offers two grading options for undergraduate students:  letter grades (A-F) and Passed/Not Passed (P/NP) The grade-point average (or GPA) is the average grade that a student has earned in a group of letter graded courses.See the The General Catalog for detailed information regarding UCSB's grading policies.

The grade-point balance is a measure in grade points of how far you are over or under the minimum standard (2.0 GPA). A negative balance is often called a deficit. If your cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, knowing your grade deficit can help you determine the grades you'll need to return to regular academic standing.  See below for details.

Your Grade Point Average (GPA)

You can find your cumulative GPA by doing  a "Major and GE Progress Check" under the "Progress" tab in GOLD.  You can use the Grade Point Average and Grade Point Balance Calculator  or by the information below to calculate changes in your GPA.

To calculate your GPA, you start by using all courses completed on a letter-grade basis (A+ through F). You do NOT use courses graded P, NP, IP, W, or I. The grade you receive in a course determines how many grade points you receive for that course. For each unit in the course, you earn the grade points as shown in Table 1, below.

Table 1: Grades and Grade-point Values

Therefore, if you earn a B+ in a 4-unit course, you earn 4 x 3.3 grade points, or 13.2 grade points. If you earn a D in a 5-unit course, you earn 5 x 1.0 grade points, or 5 grade points.

Calculating your grade-point average requires relating the grade points you have earned in courses to the unit value of those courses. For example, suppose that in a quarter you receive the following grades and units:

The grade points you have earned are calculated as follows:

To calculate your GPA, you must divide the total number of grade points earned in your letter-graded courses by the number of letter-graded units you have attempted. Note that Course #4 does not apply to the calculation because you chose P/NP grading.

To calculate your GPA, we extract the following information from Courses 1 through 3:

If you would like more practice in this,

Each letter grade, except C, has an impact on the grade-point balance. For each unit of letter-graded courses, the grade-point balance impact of the letter grade is found by subtracting 2.0 from the grade points you have actually earned. Table 2 summarizes this for each letter grade.

Table 2: How Grades Affect Your Grade-Point Balance

Note that that each grade above C improves the grade-point balance, each grade below C reduces it, and grades of C have no effect on the grade-point balance. Table 3 summarizes the impact on grade-point balance of courses with different unit values for each grade.

Table 3: Summary of Grade-Point Balance by Grade and Unit Value

Using the example above:

Again, each grade above C improves your grade-point balance, each grade below C damages it, and C grades have no effect.

The grade-point balance is particularly useful if your GPA is below 2.0, since it gives you insight into what you have to do to get into good academic standing. For example, if you have a grade-point balance of -16 (deficit of 16 grade points), you must improve your grade-point balance by achieving grades above C in an appropriate number of units. In this case, you could eliminate this negative balance (or deficit) by earning grades of B in 16 units or A in 8 units. Use Table 3 to find other combinations of grades that would eliminate this deficit.

Each letter grade, except C, has an impact on the grade-point balance. For each unit of letter-graded courses, the grade-point balance impact of the letter grade is found by subtracting 2.0 from the grade points you have actually earned. Table 2 summarizes this for each letter grade.

If you would like more practice in calculating grade-point balances, try our our GPA & GPB Calculator.

Grades and Repeating Courses

Most courses can be taken for credit just one time, but students are allowed to repeat a course when they earn a C- or lower.   If a student repeats a course for which they received a grade of C- or lower, the grade for the most recent attempt the student replaces the previous grade in the UC grade calculation for up to 16 units from repeated courses.  If a student repeats a courses after repeating beyond 16 units, both the previous grade and the most recent grade are calculated into the GPA. Students must petition to repeat a course for a second time, and these petitions are almost never granted.  In addition to improving your GPA, ot can be beneficial to repeat a course if it covers information fundamental to your major or if you need a better grade as a pre-requisite for another course you need to take.  Sometimes, however, it’s best to let it go, to not repeat a course that you didn’t enjoy and don’t need.  It often makes sense to discuss it with an advisor before repeating a course.  Detailed guidelines fof repeating courses are avaliable in The General Catalog.

Taking Courses Passed/Not Passed (P/NP).

Most courses allow "optional grading" which means they can be taken for a letter grade or as "passed/not passed." If you select P/NP for the grading option and earn at least a C in the course, you receive units for a course but the course as no impact on your GPA.  If you earn a C- or lower, you will not receive units, and there will be no impact on your GPA. 

Please remember that all courses that apply to a major (pre-major courses, course in the preparation for a major, and upper division major courses) or for a minor should be taken for a letter grade

What are the potential downsides of taking a course Passed/Not Passed?

• If you are taking a course Passed/Not Passed, a grade of C- will become a grade of NP on your transcript. With a grade of NP, you may save your GPA but lose units; with a grade of C-, you will earn units but you may harm your GPA.
• You must complete a minimum of 76 letter-graded University of California units to graduate with honors, high honors, or highest honors.
• Pre-law students should note that the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) will calculate a grade of NP as an F when considering applicants for admission into their program.We recommend that pre-law students discuss their options with a pre-law advisor before choosing the P/NP option for a course.

Is there a limit to the number of Passed/Not Passed classes I take in one quarter?

There is no limit to the number of courses you take P/NP in a given quarter (provided that you do not intend to apply the courses to your major or minor). However, remember that at the time of graduation, at least 120 or two-thirds of your UCSB units must be on a letter-graded basis.

If I've completed everything for my major but want to take extra courses in that department, do those have to be for a letter grade too?

Students who take major or minor courses in excess of minimum major or minor requirements may elect the P/NP grading option for those courses.