What is the Core GPA?
Your Core GPA is your Grade Point Average of only your Core Classes.  Core classes may differ from College to College but those considered core classes by the State of Arizona (NAU, UofA, and ASU) are as follows:

I have attached a list of specific Core Classes that might help you if you have specific questions on particular classes, however, here is an basic list which should be all you need.
ENGLISH - 4 Years (8 semesters)
MATH       - 4 Years (8 semesters)
SCIENCE - 3 Years (6 semesters)
SOCIAL STUDIES  - 2 Years (4 semesters)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE - 2 Years (4 semesters)
FINE ART - 1 Years (2 semesters)

Why is the Core GPA important?

Colleges, Universities, and scholarship committees pay particular attention to your GPA in core academic classes.

The University of Arizona will offer unconditional admissions to students who:

1.) Have completed all 16 Core Classes with a letter grade of a "C" or better
AND
2.) Have a Minimum Core GPA of a 3.0

In addition, the ABOR Tuition Scholarship offered by the state of Arizona has a Scholarship that is tied to your Core GPA.  In order to qualify for the ABOR Scholarship you must have a 3.5 GPA in all of your 16 Core Classes.  Please see this link for more information on that particular scholarship.  http://www.salpointe.org/Document.Doc?id=61

How To Calculate Your Core GPA 

To calculate your College Core you will first need a copy of your transcript.

To begin, (1) identify the College Core classes (English, Math, Natural/Physical Science, Word Languages, and Social Science) by marking or highlighting them.

Next, you will (2) assign grade points to your core courses.
A = 4 points
B = 3 points
C = 2 points
D = 1 point
F = 0 points

If you took more than the minimum number of College Core courses in any one area, you will include the course(s) with the highest grade points in the College Core. For instance, if you took 4 full years (or 8 semesters) of World Language, you will include the 2 years (or 4 semesters) with the highest grade points in your College Core.

Thirdly, you will total up your grade points in College Core courses.

Finally, you will divide your total number of grade points in core classes by the total number of semester grades that you have for those core classes.  

Now open the Core GPA Worksheet attachment and get started.

The Core GPA Calculator will help you figure out what your current Core GPA is, as well as give you the opportunity to project what it will be after completion of future courses or summer school make-up courses.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The GPA Calculator is attached below.  If you choose to use the "RESET" button on the spreadsheet you will have to have enable macros on your computer. 
Otherwise, the spreadsheet will work without enabling "macros". 
The "RESET" button allows you to make changes to the spreadsheet, then clear it and input different values.