GPA Calculator
Calculate term GPA on a 4.0 scale from letter grades and credit hours, and your new cumulative GPA including earlier terms.
Updated Formula covered by automated tests
A grade point average turns a transcript full of letter grades into one number on a 0 to 4.0 scale. Enter each course with its letter grade and credit hours, and this calculator returns your term GPA, the quality points behind it, and, if you add your earlier cumulative GPA and credits, the new cumulative figure your registrar will post.
Students usually run these numbers at three moments: midway through a semester to see what a B+ instead of an A- would do, before applying for scholarships, internships or graduate programs that set a GPA floor, and when they need to know how many strong terms it will take to climb back above a 2.0 or a 3.0 after a rough start.
The tool uses the plus/minus letter scale common at many US colleges. It works at the transcript level (letters and credits), so it pairs naturally with tools that turn raw scores into a letter, but it does not need your percentages.
The formula
- grade points
- The value of a letter grade: 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
- credit hours
- The credits or semester hours the course carries, usually 1 to 5
- quality points
- Grade points multiplied by credits; registrars sum these on the transcript
- old GPA, old credits
- Your cumulative GPA and the graded credits it was based on before this term
A GPA is a credit-weighted mean. A four-credit lab science counts four times as much as a one-credit seminar, because it represents four times the scheduled work. That is why the calculator multiplies before it adds: averaging the letters directly would let a one-credit A cancel a four-credit D.
Mapping letters to numbers lets transcripts from different departments be compared on one scale. Many registrars, UC Berkeley and Indiana University among them, attach plus and minus steps of about 0.3 points to each letter; some schools award 4.3 for an A+, while others cap it at 4.0, which is what this tool does.
To combine terms you cannot simply average the two GPAs, because each covers a different number of credits. Converting the old GPA back into quality points (GPA × credits) and adding the new term’s points gives the same result the registrar calculates.
Worked example
Jordan, a second-year student with a 3.10 cumulative GPA over 30 credits, finishes a term with Calculus (4 credits, B+), Composition (3 credits, A), General Chemistry with lab (4 credits, B-) and Psychology (3 credits, A-).
- 1 Quality points per course: 4 × 3.3 = 13.2, 3 × 4.0 = 12.0, 4 × 2.7 = 10.8, 3 × 3.7 = 11.1.
- 2 Add them: 13.2 + 12.0 + 10.8 + 11.1 = 47.1 quality points over 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 = 14 credits.
- 3 Term GPA: 47.1 ÷ 14 = 3.364, shown as 3.36.
- 4 Old quality points: 3.10 × 30 = 93.0.
- 5 New cumulative GPA: (93.0 + 47.1) ÷ (30 + 14) = 140.1 ÷ 44 = 3.184, shown as 3.18.
Result: Jordan’s term GPA is 3.36 and the cumulative GPA rises from 3.10 to 3.18. Because the record now holds 44 credits, each later term moves the cumulative figure a little less.
Before you rely on the result
- Grade-point values and honors cut-offs differ between institutions. Latin honors thresholds shown here (3.5, 3.7, 3.9) are common examples, not your school’s rule, and some schools award honors by class rank instead.
- The tool assumes a 4.0 scale with A+ capped at 4.0 and no weighting for honors or AP courses. It does not handle 4.3 scales, percentage systems, or non-US systems such as UK degree classes or ECTS grades.
- Your official GPA is the one on your transcript. Registrars may truncate rather than round, exclude certain courses, or apply repeat policies this calculator cannot know about.
Frequently asked questions
Do pass/fail courses or withdrawals count toward my GPA?
At most schools, no. A P, S, W or audit grade carries no grade points, so its credits are left out of both the top and bottom of the fraction. Leave such courses out of the calculator. A failing grade in a pass/fail course is sometimes recorded as an F that does count, so check your registrar’s policy.
How is a retaken course handled?
Many colleges use grade replacement: the new grade substitutes for the old one in the GPA, although both stay on the transcript. Others average the two attempts. To model replacement, enter only the newer grade; to model averaging, enter both attempts as separate courses.
Why is my high school GPA above 4.0?
Many high schools use a weighted scale that adds extra points for honors, AP or IB classes, so an A in AP Chemistry may count as 5.0. This calculator uses the unweighted college scale. Colleges often recalculate applicants’ GPAs on their own scale, so an unweighted figure is useful to know.
How many credits of A grades would it take to reach a 3.5?
Solve (old points + 4.0 × x) ÷ (old credits + x) = 3.5 for x. With a 3.18 GPA over 44 credits (139.9 points, using the rounded figure), x = (3.5 × 44 − 139.9) ÷ (4.0 − 3.5) = 28.2 credits of straight A work. The further along you are, the more credits each tenth of a point costs.
Do transfer credits change my GPA?
Usually the credits transfer but the grades do not, so the transferred hours count toward graduation without entering your institutional GPA. Professional schools such as medical and law schools, however, often recompute a GPA that includes every college course you have taken.
Sources
- College Board BigFuture: How to Calculate Your GPA on a 4.0 Scale (bigfuture.collegeboard.org)
- UC Berkeley Office of the Registrar: Grade definitions (grade points per unit) (registrar.berkeley.edu)
- Indiana University Office of the Registrar: Grading system and GPA calculation (registrar.indiana.edu)
- eCFR: 34 CFR 600.2, definition of credit hour (ecfr.gov)