About the GPA Calculator
This GPA calculator converts the letter grades on your transcript into a grade point average on the standard 4.0 scale. Pick a grade and enter the credit hours for up to six courses, and it weights every grade by its credits to give your semester GPA, total quality points and an approximate letter-grade equivalent.
Add your prior cumulative GPA and the credits behind it to see how this term moves your overall GPA — useful before scholarship renewals, honors deadlines, graduate school applications or academic probation reviews. Leave the prior fields at zero if this is your first semester.
Grades use the common plus/minus scale (A = 4.0, A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3 and so on). Some schools award 4.33 for an A+; switch the A+ option if yours does. Courses graded pass/fail or withdrawn should be skipped because they carry no grade points.
With the default inputs, the semester gpa is 3.52. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the gpa calculator
- 1Choose the letter grade for each course you took this term.
- 2Enter the credit hours for each course (skip unused rows).
- 3Pick whether your school counts an A+ as 4.0 or 4.33.
- 4Enter your prior cumulative GPA and credits to see your updated overall GPA.
- 5Review the course breakdown to see which classes moved your GPA most.
Formula and method
Each letter grade is converted to grade points on the 4.0 scale (A = 4.0, A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, B− = 2.7, C+ = 2.3, C = 2.0, C− = 1.7, D+ = 1.3, D = 1.0, D− = 0.7, F = 0). Multiplying the points by the course’s credit hours gives quality points, so a 4-credit course counts four times as much as a 1-credit lab.
Semester GPA is total quality points divided by total graded credits. The cumulative GPA rebuilds your prior quality points from your old GPA and credits, adds this term’s quality points, and divides by all credits. Pass/fail, audit and withdrawn courses are excluded because they carry no grade points.
- Grade points
- Numeric value of a letter grade on the 4.0 scale
- Credits
- Credit (semester) hours for the course
- Quality points
- Grade points × credits for each course
Worked examples
Five-course semester with a lab
A (3 cr) = 12, B+ (4 cr) = 13.2, A− (3 cr) = 11.1, B (3 cr) = 9 and an A in a 1-credit lab = 4, for 49.3 quality points over 14 credits: a 3.52 semester GPA. Combined with 45 prior credits at 3.40 (153 quality points), the cumulative GPA becomes 202.3 ÷ 59 = 3.43.
First semester, no prior GPA
B (3 × 3.0 = 9) + C+ (4 × 2.3 = 9.2) + A− (3 × 3.7 = 11.1) + B− (3 × 2.7 = 8.1) = 37.4 quality points over 13 credits, a 2.88 GPA. With no prior credits, the cumulative GPA equals the semester GPA.
Straight A’s with an A+ worth 4.33
Two A+ grades at 4.33 and two A grades at 4.0, each 3 credits, give 49.98 quality points over 12 credits — a 4.165 semester GPA. Added to 30 prior credits at 3.60 (108 points), the cumulative GPA is 157.98 ÷ 42 = 3.76.
Frequently asked questions
How is college GPA calculated?+
Multiply each course’s grade points (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, etc.) by its credit hours to get quality points, add them up, and divide by the total credit hours attempted for a grade.
What is a good college GPA?+
A 3.0 (B average) is the common cutoff for many scholarships and internships, 3.5+ is typically honors or Dean’s List territory, and competitive graduate programs often look for 3.5 or higher.
Do pass/fail classes affect GPA?+
Usually not. Pass/fail, credit/no-credit, audit and withdrawn (W) courses carry no grade points, so they are left out of both quality points and GPA credits. An F in a graded course, however, counts as 0 points.
Is an A+ worth more than 4.0?+
At most US colleges an A+ is capped at 4.0, but some schools award 4.33. Check your registrar’s grading policy and set the A+ option to match.
What is the difference between semester and cumulative GPA?+
Semester (term) GPA covers only the courses from one term. Cumulative GPA covers every graded course you have taken at the school, weighted by credits.