GPA Calculator
Calculate your unweighted GPA from course grades and credit hours, on the standard U.S. 4.0 scale.
What is a GPA calculator?
A GPA calculator turns a list of course grades and credit hours into a grade point average on the 4.0 scale used by many U.S. high schools and colleges. Enter one course per line — credits, then the letter grade — and it returns your GPA (4.0 scale), Total credits, Total grade points and the number of Courses counted.
GPA is a credit-weighted average: an A in a 4-credit course counts more than an A in a 1-credit course. That is why two students with the same letter grades can have different GPAs, and why a poor grade in a heavy course hurts more than one in a light elective.
Letter grades to grade points
| Letter | Points | Common percentage band | Letter | Points | Common percentage band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.0 | 97–100 | C+ | 2.3 | 77–79 |
| A | 4.0 | 93–96 | C | 2.0 | 73–76 |
| A− | 3.7 | 90–92 | C− | 1.7 | 70–72 |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87–89 | D+ | 1.3 | 67–69 |
| B | 3.0 | 83–86 | D | 1.0 | 63–66 |
| B− | 2.7 | 80–82 | D− | 0.7 | 60–62 |
| F | 0.0 | below 60 |
The points column is the fixed table the calculator uses. The percentage bands are one common convention, not a standard: schools set their own bands, some award 4.3 for an A+, and some do not use plus/minus grades at all. Your transcript or student handbook is the authority.
Weighted vs unweighted GPA
This calculator produces an unweighted GPA, where every course is on the same 4.0 scale. Some high schools also report a weighted GPA that adds points for AP, IB or honors courses, so it can go above 4.0; which courses get extra points, and how many, is set by each school. The calculator cannot compute a weighted GPA: it accepts only letter grades and uses the fixed points above, so there is no way to enter an AP A as 5.0. Use your school's own method for that figure, or the cumulative GPA calculator for term-by-term tracking.
GPA thresholds
What counts as a "good" GPA depends on who is asking: each school, program, scholarship and employer sets its own cut-offs. One rule is federal. To stay eligible for federal student aid, a student must make satisfactory academic progress under a policy the school sets, and in a program longer than two academic years the policy must require, at the end of the second year, a GPA of at least a "C" or its equivalent, or academic standing consistent with the school's graduation requirements. The standard must include a cumulative measure, so your overall GPA is the one checked.
How to raise your GPA — and the math of why it gets harder
Because GPA is an average over all your credits, each new term moves it less than the last. A student with 45 credits at a 2.8 who wants a 3.0 after one more 15-credit term needs a 3.6 that term: (45 × 2.8 + 15 × 3.6) ÷ 60 = 3.0. After 90 credits at 2.8, reaching 3.0 would take a 3.2 over the next 90 credits: (90 × 2.8 + 90 × 3.2) ÷ 180 = 3.0. The practical levers: retake failed or D courses if your school replaces the grade; take fewer credits in a term you need to do well in; use withdrawal deadlines rather than accept an F, if your school's policy allows; and put the effort in early, when each course is a larger share of your total credits.
Formula
GPA = Σ (grade points × credits) ÷ Σ credits
- Convert each letter grade to grade points using the chart above (A = 4.0, B+ = 3.3, and so on).
- Multiply each course's grade points by its credit hours to get quality points.
- Add up all the quality points and divide by the total credit hours.
Courses graded pass/fail, withdrawn (W), incomplete (I) or audited usually carry no grade points and are left out of both sums. The calculator skips any line it cannot read as credits plus one of its 13 letter grades, so a line such as 4, P or 3, W is ignored and does not appear in Courses counted. Lines with 0 or negative credits are skipped too. If no line can be read, the results show a dash.
Worked example
Example 1: the calculator's default list
| Course | Credits | Grade | Points | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course 1 | 3 | A | 4.0 | 12.0 |
| Course 2 | 4 | B+ | 3.3 | 13.2 |
| Course 3 | 3 | A− | 3.7 | 11.1 |
| Course 4 | 3 | B | 3.0 | 9.0 |
| Course 5 | 2 | A | 4.0 | 8.0 |
| Total | 15 | 53.3 |
GPA = 53.3 ÷ 15 = 3.5533…, shown as 3.55, with Total credits 15.0, Total grade points 53.30 and Courses counted 5. Notice the 4-credit B+ pulls the average down more than the 2-credit A pulls it up — credits are the weights.
Example 2: a term with a pass/fail course
Entered as 3, A, 4, P, 3, C and 1, B+, the P line is skipped. The other three give 12.0 + 6.0 + 3.3 = 21.3 grade points over 7 credits, a GPA of 3.04, with Courses counted 3 — the 4 pass/fail credits do not enter the average.
How to use this calculator
- Type one course per line as
credits, grade— for example3, A-or4, B+. Commas, semicolons or tabs all work as separators. - Use the letter grades A+, A, A−, B+, B, B−, C+, C, C−, D+, D, D− and F. Lowercase is fine, and a minus can be typed as a hyphen, a minus sign or a dash (A-, A−, A–); a space inside the grade, as in
B +, is ignored. - Read your GPA, total credits and total grade points. Lines it cannot read are skipped, so check that Courses counted matches the number of courses you entered.
For a semester GPA, enter only that term's courses. For a cumulative GPA, enter every graded course on your transcript — or, if you know your current cumulative GPA and credits, use the cumulative GPA calculator, which combines a starting GPA with new courses.
What this calculator does not do
- No weighted GPA and no numeric grade points (such as 4.3 or 5.0): only the 13 letter grades in the fixed table are read.
- No percentage-to-letter conversion, and no grade replacement for repeated courses — enter only the attempts your school counts.
- No quarter-to-semester conversion, and no combining a past GPA with new courses.
Tips for a clean calculation
- If your school uses a different scale (A+ = 4.3, no minus grades, a 100-point scale), this calculator's fixed table will not match it.
- Half-credit or 1.5-credit courses are fine — enter the decimal.
- Do not mix semester and quarter hours; to convert quarter hours to semester hours, multiply by two-thirds.
Related tools
- Final grade calculator — what you need on the final to hit a target grade
- Test score calculator — marks to percentage and letter grade
- How to calculate GPA — the method step by step
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is a good college GPA?
There is no single answer: each college, graduate program, scholarship and employer sets its own threshold, and the same GPA reads differently in different majors. Check the published requirement for the program or award you are aiming at, and use this calculator to see where your current courses put you.
What is a weighted vs unweighted GPA?
Unweighted GPA puts every course on the same 4.0 scale. Weighted GPA adds points for courses a school treats as harder, such as AP, IB or honors classes, so the overall figure can exceed 4.0; the extra points vary by school. This calculator computes the unweighted figure only.
How do I raise my GPA?
Retake courses where your school replaces the old grade (check the policy — some average the two); withdraw before the deadline rather than take an F, if your school allows it; take a lighter load in the term you need to excel; and concentrate on high-credit courses, which move the average most. Because GPA is cumulative, the earlier you act the more each term counts: the same 3.6 term lifts a 2.8 to 3.0 after 45 credits but only to 2.91 after 90.
Are pass/fail or withdrawn courses counted?
Usually not in the GPA: pass/fail (P/NP, S/U), withdrawn (W), incomplete (I) and audited courses typically carry no grade points, though a pass may still count toward your credits for graduation. The calculator skips any line whose grade is not a letter grade, so these lines do not change the result. A failed pass/fail course may or may not count as an F — check your school's rules.
How do I convert a percentage to a GPA?
Convert the percentage to a letter grade first using your school's bands — one common convention is 93–100 = A, 90–92 = A−, 87–89 = B+, 83–86 = B, 80–82 = B−, 77–79 = C+, 73–76 = C, 70–72 = C−, 60–69 = the D range and below 60 = F — then enter that letter here. There is no single percentage-to-GPA formula because the bands differ between schools.
What GPA do I need to graduate or keep financial aid?
Your college catalog sets the minimum cumulative GPA for graduation and good standing, and some majors and honors programs set higher ones. For federal student aid, your school's satisfactory-academic-progress policy applies; in a program longer than two academic years it must require at least a "C" average or its equivalent (or standing consistent with graduation requirements) by the end of the second year.
Can I type A− with a minus sign, or B + with a space?
Yes. The calculator reads a hyphen, a minus sign (−) or a dash (–) after the letter, and ignores spaces inside the grade, so 3, A−, 3, A- and 3, A – all count as an A− worth 3.7 points. It does not read numbers in the grade column, so 3, 3.7 is skipped.