GPA Calculator

How It Works

GPA is a credit-weighted average, not a simple average of your grades. The process has three parts. First, each letter grade is converted to a point value on the 4.0 scale: A = 4.0, A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, and so on down to F = 0.0. Second, each course's grade points are multiplied by the number of credit hours the course is worth, producing "quality points" for that course. A 4-credit A earns 16 quality points, while a 3-credit A earns 12 — the same grade counts for more when the course carries more credit. Third, you add up all the quality points and divide by the total credit hours attempted. That final division is what makes GPA a weighted average and why a high grade in a heavy course moves your number more than the same grade in a light one. Understanding the weighting is the key to using GPA strategically. Because credits act as multipliers, your performance in a 4- or 5-credit lecture affects your GPA far more than a 1-credit lab or seminar. If you are choosing where to focus effort, the high-credit courses are where a letter grade swings your number the most. A common pitfall is confusing term GPA with cumulative GPA: this calculator produces the GPA for the courses you enter, which is your term or semester GPA. Your cumulative GPA is the same weighted formula applied to every course across your entire academic career, so a single strong or weak semester moves the cumulative figure less and less as your total credit count grows. Another subtlety is that unweighted GPA caps at 4.0, whereas some high schools use a weighted scale that awards up to 5.0 for honors or AP courses — this tool uses the standard unweighted 4.0 scale used by most colleges. Pass/fail courses, withdrawals, and transfer credits are usually excluded from GPA entirely, so leave those out when you enter your courses.

GPA = Σ(Grade Points × Credits) ÷ Σ(Credits)

Examples

Frequently Asked Questions