Not actually sure if it's a universal scale, so could be you just grew up with a different system, but it's a grade point average: 4.0 means all A's so far. There are some instances of students cranking out a 4.1 or some higher value, but I'm not sure how that happens... like you can score 100% on every assignment, and then take advantage of extra credit to get your class grade higher than 100%, but as far as GPA calculation goes, an A is an A... I think.
...also pretty much everyone I went to highschool with who went on to a trade are now financially WAY ahead of the rest of us dumbasses who bought into some other path. You may be less educated, but definitely not stupid - and on the same page, being educated doesn't mean someone isn't stupid... listen to a doctor start talking about something other than their immediate field of study, and you start to realize pretty quick that some of them are just absolute hopeless morons.
I digress :P