How to Modify Grade Point Average (GPA) to Make It More Adequate

At present, the amounts of knowledge acquired by different graduates of the same program are usually compared by comparing their GPAs. We argue that this is not always the most adequate description: for ex-ample, if, after completing all required classes with the highest grade of “excellent ” (A), a student takes an additional challenging class and gets a “satisfactory ” grade (C), the amount of her knowledge increases, but the GPA goes down. We propose a modification of the GPA which is free of this drawback and is, thus, more adequate for describing the student’s knowledge. We also provide a psychological explanation for why people cling to the traditional GPA. How graduate's knowledge is compared now. At present, the amounts of knowledge acquired by different graduates of the same program are usually compared by comparing their Grade Point Average (GPA). A GPA is simply an arithmetic average of all the grades that a student got in different classes