Introducing the Critical GPA

The critical GPA is a new addition to our tools for monitoring students’ academic standing. It
provides a convenient assessment of where a student stands in terms of meeting the minimum
overall GPA requirement for graduation. There are three key considerations that are
assimilated into the critical GPA:

1. A minimum overall GPA of 2.0 at the end of the study programme. This translates to a
corresponding minimum total grade points required for graduation which, in turn, is
computed from the following two inputs:
2. The current number of points accumulated from completed credits and
3. Grade points that the student is expected to earn from remaining credits to complete
the study programme. This is calculated on a projected performance that the student
will obtain a C-grade in 75 % of remaining credits and a B-grade in 25 % of remaining
credits.

The projected performance in (3) above is pivotal to the concept of the critical GPA. It sets
a framework of expectations from students which is then incorporated into a convenient
indicator of how students are progressing relative to meeting minimum requirements for
graduation. This indicator is the critical GPA and its value varies with the percentage
(fraction) of the total required credits completed. It is easily calculated using an Excel
template. Examples are:
When (approximately) 25 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is (approximately) 1.25

When (approximately) 40 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is (approximately) 1.63

When (approximately) 50 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is (approximately) 1.75

When (approximately) 75 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is (approximately) 1.92

When (approximately) 90 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is (approximately) 1.97

When 100 % of credits are completed, the critical GPA is 2.00

When the current overall GPA is below the critical GPA, it means that the student will not be
able to accumulate enough grade points for graduation based on the projected performance.
The implication, therefore, is that the student must improve the accumulated grade points
from completed credits through upgrading.