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D is 1.0. A final university GPA of 3.5 or above is roughly equiv-
alent to a British honors degree. Students with a GPA of 3.5 or
higher graduate cum laude (with honor); 3.7 or higher is magna
cum laude (with great honor); 3.9 or higher is summa cum laude
(with highest honor).

COLLEGE CREDITS

Obviously, you have to have some math skills to figure out the
American grading system. But it's not over yet. In order to com-
plete a college or university degree, you have to get enough credits
or units to graduate.
A credit is roughly equal to one hour of class time. A typical
college class will meet for three or five hours per week. In the
quarter system, a student earns three or five credits every quarter
for a three- or five-hour class. The usual full-time student takes
fifteen hours of classes per quarter, and 180 credits are required to
graduate. In the semester system, the word unit is usually used, and
each semester-long class also earns units that relate to the number
of hours of class time.
Roughly half of a student's college credits must be earned in
required classes that cover all general areas of study, and the other
half is used for the student's major and any minor or elective
courses.
Finally, just passing the courses often isn't enough to graduate;
in many universities, there is a minimum GPA that must be earned,
and the minimum is often higher for courses in the student's major.

A COUPLE OF MAJOR EXAMS

Although exams are rarely required to move from one grade to
the next, students who are planning to go to college after high
school will have to take one of the national standardized college
entrance exams - the ACT or the SAT. These tests are conducted
nationally on fixed dates during the school year.
The general test assesses students' aptitude in verbal and
mathematical skills rather than evaluating their knowledge of any