GPA Calculator - Term & Cumulative GPA

The GPA Calculator converts course letter grades and credit hours into a term GPA, and can fold a new term into a cumulative GPA from prior quality points. Choose an unweighted 4.0, plus/minus, or weighted 5.0 scale (or edit the points table); enter each course; and read quality points beside every row.

The same transcript can produce three different GPAs on three scales. The calculator always names the active scale and never presents a result as an official institutional GPA.

Calculate GPA from grades and credits

Each course contributes quality points equal to grade points times credit hours. Sum quality points across included courses and divide by total credits to obtain GPA. Leave withdrawn courses out unless the policy you are modelling counts them. Pass or fail rows usually affect graduation credits but not GPA; omit them here unless the registrar says otherwise.

Leave withdrawn courses out unless your school counts them in the policy you are modelling. Pass/fail rows usually contribute credits toward graduation but not toward GPA; omit them here unless your registrar says otherwise.

Apply the GPA formula

GPA equals the sum of grade points times credits for each course, divided by the sum of those credits. On a 4.0 scale, an A in a 3-credit course contributes 12 quality points and a B in a 4-credit course also contributes 12.

Credits in the denominator weight longer courses more heavily than one-credit labs with the same letter. GPA = Σ(gradePointsᵢ × creditsᵢ) / Σcreditsᵢ ```

On a 4.0 scale, an A in a 3-credit course contributes 4.0 × 3 = 12 quality points. A B in a 4-credit course contributes 3.0 × 4 = 12. Credits in the denominator weight longer courses more heavily than one-credit labs.

Choose a grading scale

Unweighted 4.0 maps A to 4 through F to 0. Plus-minus scales insert values such as A-minus at 3.7 and B-plus at 3.3, with A-plus often capped at 4.0 and sometimes raised to 4.3. Weighted 5.0 scales inflate points for approved honours, AP or IB courses while standard courses stay on 4.0.

Edit the table to match the catalogue. |---|---| | Unweighted 4.0 | A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0 | | Plus/minus 4.0 | A−=3.7, B+=3.3, …; A+ often 4.0 (sometimes 4.3) | | Weighted 5.0 | Honours/AP/IB A=5, B=4, C=3, …; standard courses stay on 4.0 |

Institutions differ on A+ (4.0 vs 4.3), on whether weighting adds 0.5 or 1.0, and on which courses qualify. Edit the points table to match the catalogue before treating the output as advisory for scholarships or applications.

Calculate a term GPA for three courses

On the unweighted 4.0 scale, an A worth 3 credits, a B worth 4 credits and a C worth 3 credits produce quality points of 12, 12 and 6. Total quality points are 30 over 10 credits, so term GPA equals 3.00. Changing any letter or any credit load moves both the numerator and the denominator together.

Course	Points	Credits	Quality points
A	4.0	3	12
B	3.0	4	12
C	2.0	3	6
Total		10	30

GPA = 30 / 10 = 3.00.

Calculate a cumulative GPA

Cumulative GPA equals prior quality points plus new quality points, all divided by prior credits plus new credits. With 45 prior quality points over 15 credits and a new term of 30 points over 10 credits, cumulative GPA is 75 divided by 25, which equals 3.00.

As total credits grow, a single term moves the cumulative figure less. cGPA = (priorQualityPoints + newQualityPoints) / (priorCredits + newCredits) ```

Example: prior 45 quality points over 15 credits (prior GPA 3.0), plus the term above (30 points over 10 credits):

cGPA = (45 + 30) / (15 + 10) = 75 / 25 = 3.00.

Enter prior credits and prior quality points (or prior GPA and prior credits, which the calculator expands). A single strong or weak term moves cumulative GPA less as total credits grow.

Plan the GPA needed to reach a target

Required average on remaining credits equals target times total credits at the goal, minus current quality points, all divided by remaining credits. From a 3.0 over 30 credits toward a 3.5 after 12 more credits, the required average is 4.75, which is unreachable on a 4.0 scale.

The calculator reports that plainly rather than silently capping. required = (target × totalCredits − currentQualityPoints) / remainingCredits ```

Example: current quality points 90 over 30 credits (GPA 3.0), target 3.5 after 12 more credits. Total credits at goal = 42. Required average on the remaining 12 = (3.5 × 42 − 90) / 12 = (147 − 90) / 12 = 57 / 12 = 4.75.

On a 4.0 scale that average is unreachable. The calculator says so rather than silently capping. On a weighted 5.0 scale for eligible courses, 4.75 may be possible. Scale choice changes the planning answer.

Understand why scales give different answers

Identical letters on the three built-in scales produce different quality-point totals. An A− might be 3.7 on plus/minus and simply "A territory" on a whole-letter 4.0 policy. Weighted scales inflate GPA for approved rigorous courses and leave others unweighted on the same transcript.

Admissions offices often recalculate on their own rubric. A weighted high-school GPA is not interchangeable with an unweighted college GPA. When quoting a number in an application or scholarship form, state the scale and whether weighting applied, and treat the registrar's transcript as the authority.

Never compare GPAs across schools without checking scale and weighting rules. Admissions offices often recalculate on their own rubric. This tool is for planning and checking arithmetic under a stated policy, not for certifying an official number.

Retakes, incompletes and transfers

Repeat-course policies differ: some replace the earlier grade in GPA, some average both attempts, some keep both visible with only the most recent counting. Model the rule your school publishes. Transfer credits may count toward graduation without entering GPA; including them here would distort the figure.

Incomplete grades resolve later into letters. Until they do, leave those rows out of a planning GPA or the average will pretend missing work never existed.

Quality points as the unit of account

Thinking in quality points rather than letter averages prevents common planning mistakes. Raising a 3-credit course from B to A adds 3 quality points, while raising a 1-credit lab from B to A adds only 1. The same letter jump is not the same GPA jump.

The planning mode on this page is really a quality-point budget solver dressed as a GPA target.

Scholarship thresholds often sit on cumulative GPA with specific rounding rules (truncate versus round half up). Reproduce the school's rounding when a threshold is close, because a 2.995 and a 3.00 can fall on opposite sides of a cutoff after the registrar's rule is applied.

Part-time terms

A light term with two courses still updates cumulative GPA through the same quality-point formula. Small credit totals move cumulative GPA more per letter change than an 18-credit overload does, which matters when planning a recovery term after a weak semester.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

The GPA Calculator turns letter grades and credit hours into term and cumulative GPAs, with unweighted 4.0, plus/minus and weighted 5.0 scales that remain editable. Three courses graded A, B and C for 3, 4 and 3 credits yield a 3.00 term GPA on the unweighted scale.

Cumulative mode merges prior quality points with a new term; planning mode solves for the average still needed and flags targets above the scale maximum. Always name the scale when quoting a result, and treat institutional transcripts as the authority.