GPA Calculator
Enter each course with its letter grade and credit hours. Credits are the weight, which is why a simple average of your letter grades is usually wrong.
Term GPA
3.53out of 4.0
- Term GPA
- 3.53
- Credits
- 12.0
- Grade points
- 42.3
- Courses
- 4
- Uses the standard four-point scale with plus and minus grades. Some schools cap A at 4.0 with no A+, and some weight honours or AP courses at 5.0. Check your handbook.
- Credit hours are the weight. A four-credit course counts twice as much as a two-credit one, which is why one heavy course can carry a term.
About the GPA calculator
A grade point average is a weighted average, not a plain one. Each letter grade converts to points on a four-point scale, those points are multiplied by the credit hours the course carries, and the total is divided by the total credits.
That weighting is the part people miss. An A in a four-credit course and a C in a two-credit one gives 3.33, not the 3.0 you would get by averaging the two letters. Swap the credits round and the same two grades give 2.67. One heavy course can carry a term, and one heavy course can sink it.
Add your existing GPA and total credits and this gives the cumulative figure too. That number is worth looking at before panicking about a single term: at ninety credits, a bad fifteen-credit term moves the cumulative average far less than it would have in first year — and a good one moves it just as little.
What it works out
- Term GPA from up to eight courses
- Cumulative GPA, if you add your existing credits
- The standard four-point scale with plus and minus
- Total credits and grade points
The formula
GPA = Σ(grade points × credits) ÷ Σ credits
Convert each letter to points, multiply by the credits, add them all up, then divide by the total credits. An A is 4.0, an A- is 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B is 3.0 and so on down in steps of roughly a third.
For the worked example: 4.0 × 4 gives 16, 3.3 × 3 gives 9.9, 3.0 × 3 gives 9, and 3.7 × 2 gives 7.4. That is 42.3 grade points across 12 credits, which is a GPA of 3.53.
The cumulative version is the same operation one level up. Your existing GPA multiplied by your existing credits gives the points you have banked; add this term's points and divide by the combined credits. A 3.5 across 60 credits plus a 4.0 term of 15 gives (210 + 60) divided by 75, which is 3.6.
One consequence worth internalising early: the more credits behind you, the less any single term moves the total. That is reassuring after a bad semester and frustrating after a good one, and it is why the first year matters more than it feels like it should at the time.
- Grade points
- The letter grade converted to the four-point scale.
- Credits
- Credit hours the course carries. This is the weight.
- GPA
- Total grade points divided by total credits.
A worked example
Four courses: an A over four credits, a B+ over three, a B over three and an A- over two.
That works out to 3.53 out of 4.0.
- Term GPA
- 3.53
- Credits
- 12.0
- Grade points
- 42.3
- Courses
- 4
Questions
How do I calculate my GPA?
Convert each grade to points, multiply by the credit hours, add the results, and divide by the total credits. It is a weighted average, so averaging the letters directly gives the wrong answer whenever your courses differ in size.
What is a 4.0 scale?
A standard where an A is worth 4.0 points, a B 3.0, a C 2.0, a D 1.0 and an F nothing, with plus and minus grades filling the gaps at roughly a third of a point each. Some schools treat A+ as 4.0 and some as 4.3.
Why is my GPA not the average of my grades?
Because credit hours weight it. An A in a four-credit course counts twice as much as a C in a two-credit one, so a plain average of the letters will not match.
How much can one term change my cumulative GPA?
Less the further in you are. A 3.5 over 90 credits only drops to 3.29 after a 2.0 term of 15 credits, but the same term against 15 existing credits takes it to 2.75.
Does this handle weighted or honours GPAs?
No. Some schools score honours and AP courses on a 5.0 scale, which changes the points table. This uses the standard unweighted four-point scale, so check your handbook if yours differs.
Do failed or repeated courses count?
Policies vary. Many institutions include an F in the GPA until the course is repeated, then replace or average the two attempts. Enter whatever your own registrar actually counts.