To assure that your Scholarship and Grant Policy and Procedure Manual remains current, please record this document on your TOPS Bulletin index and retain it with your manual.

TOPS Bulletin T2000-18 provided you with changes to the TOPS rules which clarified the procedure for calculating the cumulative high school grade point average (GPA).

In T2000-18 we included the entire revised definition of "Cumulative High School Grade Point Average", marked with stricken and added language to indicate the changes made. Specifically, we added the following language:

"Part IV. Student Financial Assistance—Higher Education Scholarship and Grant Programs

...
Chapter 3. Definitions
§301. Definitions
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Cumulative High School Grade Point Average——the final cumulative high school grade point average calculated on a 4.00 scale for all courses attempted, including each course that is repeated. Effective for high school graduates in the academic year beginning with the Academic Year (High School) 2002-2003, the Cumulative High School Grade Point Average shall be calculated by using only the course grades achieved for those courses included in the core curriculum and recorded on the official transcript reported to the Louisiana Department of Education. In the event a student has received credit for more than 16.5 hours of courses that are included in the core curriculum, the Cumulative High School Grade Point Average shall be calculated by using the course in each core curriculum category for which the student received the highest grade. For example, if a student has taken more than one Advanced Mathematics course, the Cumulative Grade Point Average shall be determined by using only the course in which the student has received the highest grade. In the event a student takes the same core course more than one time, the Cumulative High School Grade Point Average shall be calculated using the average of the grades earned in each repeated course. For example, a student who earns an "F" in Algebra I and who earns a "B" by repeating the course would add "0" for the "F" to "3" for the "B" and divide by two resulting in a "1.5" grade for calculating the Cumulative Grade Point Average.

For those high schools that utilize other than a 4.00 scale, all grade values must be converted to a 4.00 scale utilizing the following formula.

                         Quality Points Awarded for the Course        =     X (Converted Quality Points)
                         Maximum Points Possible for the Course                 4.00 (Maximum Scale)


For schools awarding a maximum of 5 points for honor’s courses, the formula would be used to convert the honors course grade of "C" as shown in the following example.

                                                                                   3.00    =      X  
                                                                                   5.00           4.00

By cross multiplying,

                            5X  =  12;  X = 2.40

Quality points = Credit for course multiplied by the value assigned to the letter grade."

We have been advised that some readers interpreted the bulletin to state that the requirement to include the average of repeated courses in calculating the high school GPA did not take effect until the high school graduating class of 2002-2003. We wish to stress that the required TOPS grade point average calculation, inclusive of grades for all courses attempted, including repeated courses, is effective immediately.

Effective immediately, the final cumulative high school grade point average must be calculated on a 4.00 scale for all courses attempted, including each course that is repeated. In the event a student takes the same core course more than one time, the Cumulative High School Grade Point Average shall be calculated using the average of the grades earned in each repeated course.