GPA Calculator
This GPA calculator works out your grade point average on the standard 4.0 scale. Enter each course with its credit hours and letter grade to get your term GPA, total credits, and quality points. If you check the prior GPA option and add the GPA and credits you have already earned, it also returns your new cumulative GPA — useful for college, high school, and anyone tracking a dean's list or scholarship cutoff.
How GPA Is Calculated
GPA is a credit-weighted average. Each letter grade converts to grade points on the 4.0 scale, and each course earns quality points equal to its grade points multiplied by its credit hours. Your GPA is the total quality points divided by the total credits — so a grade in a 4-credit course moves your average more than the same grade in a 1-credit elective.
Here is a worked example with three courses. An A in a 3-credit course is 4.0 × 3 = 12.0 quality points. A B+ in a 4-credit course is 3.3 × 4 = 13.2. A C in a 3-credit course is 2.0 × 3 = 6.0. Together that is 12.0 + 13.2 + 6.0 = 31.2 quality points over 10 credits, and 31.2 ÷ 10 = a 3.12 GPA.
The calculator above follows exactly this method, skipping any row that is missing either credits or a grade, so you can list courses you have not finished yet without affecting the result.
The 4.0 Grade Scale
Most US colleges and high schools report grades on the 4.0 scale below, where each step between a plus, plain, and minus grade is worth about a third of a point. This is the mapping the calculator uses.
| Letter grade | Grade points |
|---|---|
| A+ | 4.0 |
| 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 | 0.0 |
Scales do vary by school. Many institutions cap an A+ at 4.0 (as this table does), but some award 4.3 for it, and others skip plus and minus grades entirely so that an A-, A, and A+ are all simply 4.0. If your transcript shows different point values, your school's official scale is the one that counts — but for the common 4.0 system, this table matches what most registrars use.
Weighted vs Unweighted GPA
An unweighted GPA treats every course the same: an A is 4.0 whether it comes from a standard class or the hardest course in the catalog. A weighted GPA, common in high schools, adds a difficulty bump for advanced coursework — typically +0.5 for honors classes and +1.0 for AP, IB, or dual-enrollment classes. That is why weighted GPAs can exceed 4.0: an A in an AP class might count as 5.0, putting a 4.6 weighted average within reach.
Because every high school weights differently, college admissions offices often recalculate applicants' GPAs on a single unweighted scale (sometimes using only core academic courses) so students can be compared fairly. The course rigor still matters — it is just evaluated alongside the recalculated number rather than baked into it.
This calculator computes a standard unweighted GPA. If your school weights grades, enter your courses as they appear and treat the result as your unweighted average.
What Is a Good GPA?
It depends on what the GPA is for. As a rough national benchmark, the average college GPA sits a little above 3.0, so anything in the 3.0 to 3.5 range is solid, and above 3.5 is strong. Dean's list recognition typically starts around 3.5 (some schools set it at 3.7 or higher), and Latin honors at graduation usually begin near 3.5 for cum laude.
For specific goals, the thresholds matter more than the average. Many graduate and professional programs use a 3.0 floor for admission, and competitive programs effectively expect well above that. Scholarships vary widely — some renew at 2.5, many merit awards require 3.0 to 3.5 — and most schools set academic-standing minimums around 2.0. Check the exact cutoff for your goal, then use the cumulative option above to see what next term's grades would do to your number. You can find more of our tools on the free calculators hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Convert each letter grade to grade points on the 4.0 scale (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, and so on), multiply each course’s grade points by its credit hours to get quality points, add the quality points up, and divide by the total credit hours. For example, an A in a 3-credit course is 12 quality points; a B in a 4-credit course is 12 more; 24 quality points over 7 credits is a 3.43 GPA. The calculator above does the conversion and the math for you.
A B+ is worth 3.3 grade points on the standard 4.0 scale, so a straight B+ average across all your courses works out to a 3.3 GPA. In practice most transcripts mix grades, so a GPA between about 3.3 and 3.6 is generally described as a B+ to A- average.
Earn grades above your current average in your upcoming courses — every new grade higher than your GPA pulls it up, and every lower grade pulls it down. The catch is dilution: the more credits you already have, the less each new course moves the number. A student with 15 credits and a 2.5 GPA can reach about 3.0 with one 4.0 semester, but a student with 90 credits would barely move past 2.7 with the same semester. Retaking failed courses (where your school replaces the grade) is often the fastest route.
Usually not. At most schools a “Pass” earns credit toward graduation but carries no grade points, so it is excluded from the GPA calculation entirely. A “Fail”, however, often does count as an F (0.0) and lowers your GPA. Policies vary by school, so check your registrar’s rules — and leave pass/fail courses out of this calculator if your school excludes them.
Term (or semester) GPA covers only the courses you took in a single term, while cumulative GPA averages every graded credit you have ever taken, weighted by credit hours. To blend them, multiply your prior cumulative GPA by your prior credits, add this term’s quality points, and divide by the combined credit total — which is exactly what the “Include prior GPA” option in the calculator does.