I'm trying to figure out how to find a GPA if a student has attempted 33 credit
hours but has only sucessfully completed 12 credit hours what is the student's
GPA?

It depends on what grades the student made on the 12 credit hours completed.
Even if the student made all A's on the 12 credit hours completed, then the
student has 12*4 or 48 grade points.  Then the student's GPA is 48/33 = about
1.45, which is poor.

The formula is

GPA = (4*CHA+3*CHB+2*CHC+CHD)/(TCH)

where 
CHA = no. of credit hours on which an A was made
CHB = no. of credit hours on which an B was made
CHC = no. of credit hours on which an C was made
CHD = no. of credit hours on which an D was made
TCH = total no. of credit hours attempted.

Edwin
AnlytcPhil@aol.com