College GPA Calculator
Enter your classes, grades and credit hours to get this term's GPA — your semester GPA, then add the GPA already on your transcript to see where your cumulative GPA lands.
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Enter a grade and credits to see the calculation. Only rows included in your GPA appear here.
Enter valid grades and credits to print your results.
Calculator results are estimates based on your inputs and the grading conventions described on each page. Schools may use different rules for weighting, repeated courses, transfer credits, and rounding. Your school or registrar determines your official GPA.
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What is a college GPA?
Your college GPA is a credit-weighted average of your grades on a 4.0 scale. Every letter grade converts to grade points, those points are multiplied by the credit hours the class carries, and the total is divided by the credits that count. That is the number your college reports on your transcript.
Credits are the only weighting colleges apply. Unlike high school there are no Honors or AP bonus points — a 4-credit class simply pulls your average twice as hard as a 2-credit class, which is why the same letter grade can move your GPA by very different amounts from one semester to the next.
How to use the college GPA calculator
A result takes three steps, and nothing is sent anywhere — the math runs in your browser.
- Enter each class. Pick a grade and the credit hours for every row. Class names are optional. Use Add class for more rows.
- Read your term GPA. The headline number is this term's GPA, with the quality points and credits behind it shown underneath so you can check the arithmetic.
- Add your current GPA (optional). Enter the cumulative GPA and GPA hours already on your transcript, and the second box shows the new cumulative GPA once this term is folded in.
Use GPA hours — the figure printed beside your cumulative GPA — not your total earned credits. Pass, transfer and AP credits can make earned hours larger, and using them will throw the result off.
How to calculate college GPA
GPA = total quality points ÷ total credits counted
Grade points are what a letter is worth (A = 4.0, B+ = 3.3). Quality points are grade points × class credits, and credits counted are those for classes that count toward your GPA. Multiply by credits first, then divide — averaging the letter grades directly gives you a different, wrong answer whenever class sizes differ.
Semester GPA calculation
A four-course fall semester, from letter grades to one number:
| Course | Grade | Grade points | Credits | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG 101 — English Composition | A | 4.0 × 3 cr | 3 | 12.0 |
| MATH 121 — Calculus I | B+ | 3.3 × 4 cr | 4 | 13.2 |
| PSY 201 — Intro to Psychology | A− | 3.7 × 3 cr | 3 | 11.1 |
| BIO 110 — General Biology | C+ | 2.3 × 2 cr | 2 | 4.6 |
| Total quality points | 12 | 40.9 | ||
40.9 ÷ 12 = 3.41 GPA. Averaging the four grade points instead gives 3.33 — the 2-credit C+ gets counted the same as the 4-credit B+, and you lose a hundredth of a point that was never really there.
Cumulative GPA calculation
Spring adds four more classes. To combine the two terms, add the quality points and the credits from both, then divide once:
| Semester | Quality points | Credits | Semester GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | 40.9 | 12 | 3.41 |
| Spring | 45.9 | 14 | 3.28 |
| Total | 86.8 | 26 | 3.34 |
86.8 ÷ 26 = 3.34 cumulative GPA. Averaging the two semester GPAs instead gives 3.35 — the same error as before, because it treats the 12-credit fall like the 14-credit spring. Credits never get equal say.
How does this term combine with the GPA already on your transcript? Use cumulative GPA across all semesters to combine completed terms by credits. If you only need the current term, calculate your semester GPA by credit hours.
Semester, term and overall GPA: what resets
Semester GPA covers one term and starts over every term. Cumulative GPA carries every completed term and never resets. Colleges use them differently: semester GPA is what triggers honors or probation for that term, while cumulative GPA drives academic standing, major eligibility, scholarship minimums and graduation. A strong spring does not erase a weak fall — it dilutes it, which is exactly what the credit weighting above shows.
College GPA scale: letter grades to grade points
These are the standard 4.0-scale values used by most US colleges. Some schools differ at the edges — a few count an A+ as 4.33, and some give a B+ 3.5 instead of 3.3.
| Letter | Percentage | Grade points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ / A | 93–100% | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86% | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–82% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79% | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76% | 2.0 |
| C− | 70–72% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–69% | 1.3 |
| D | 63–66% | 1.0 |
| D− | 60–62% | 0.7 |
| F | 0–59% | 0.0 |
Check your college's grading policy. Cutoffs and plus/minus treatment are set per institution, so a 90% is a 4.0 at some schools and a 3.7 at others.
Which classes count toward your college GPA?
Your college decides, and this is where a calculator and an official transcript most often disagree. The rules that vary the most:
| Course type | Counts? | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|
| Letter grades (A–F) | Yes | Each earns grade points and counts its credits. |
| Pass / No Pass | Usually no | Pass earns credit toward graduation but no grade points. A failing no-pass may still count as an F. |
| Withdrawals (W) | Usually no | A W stays on the transcript but carries no points. A withdrawal-fail (WF) can count as an F at some colleges. |
| Transfer credit | Usually no | Transfers toward the degree but is often left out of your GPA — the grades came from another institution. |
| AP / IB exam credit | Usually no | Can satisfy requirements or earn credits, but normally no grade points are awarded. |
| Retakes | Varies | Some colleges count both attempts, some only the higher grade, some only the most recent. Your catalog decides. |
The mistake to avoid: if your school excludes a passing course from GPA, leave its credits out of the calculation too. Adding credits the college does not count pulls your result below the real number.
How to calculate GPA on the quarter system
The math is identical — grade points × units, summed and divided by units counted. Three fall-quarter classes totalling 44.5 quality points over 13 units come to 3.42. Type quarter units into Credits, and use Add class for each additional course; the label says semester, but it works for any term.
Combining quarter and semester transcripts? Multiply quarter units by 2/3 first, so 13 quarter units become about 8.67 semester credits. The GPA itself does not change — skipping this step is what makes quarter courses count for too much.
What is a good college GPA?
On a 4.0 scale, 3.0 is a B average and 3.5 sits between a B+ and an A−. Whether that is enough depends entirely on what you are targeting, so compare your result against the number that actually applies to you:
| GPA band | What to check next |
|---|---|
| 3.50 – 4.00 | Honors and competitive programs set their own, higher cutoffs. |
| 3.00 – 3.49 | Scholarship and graduate-program minimums usually sit here. |
| 2.00 – 2.99 | Major and program minimums; some majors require a higher GPA than the college does. |
| Below 2.00 | Academic standing and financial aid. Talk to an advisor before the next term starts. |
If you receive federal aid, check your college's satisfactory academic progress policy as well: for programs longer than two years, federal rules require at least a C average by the end of the second year, or academic standing consistent with graduation.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my overall college GPA?
Multiply each course's grade points by its credit hours to get quality points, add all of those together, then divide by the total credits that count toward your GPA. A four-course semester — A in a 3-credit class (12.0), B+ in a 4-credit class (13.2), A− in 3 credits (11.1) and C+ in 2 credits (4.6) — totals 40.9 quality points over 12 credits, a 3.41 GPA. For your overall GPA across every term, do not average the semester GPAs; add up every term's quality points and credits first, then divide once.
Is a 3.25 GPA an A or B?
Neither exactly — 3.25 sits between a B (3.0) and a B+ (3.3), so it is not a single letter grade. That is normal: GPA is an average across courses, and averages land between grade points all the time. If you need to describe it in a letter, most people would call a 3.25 a B average, and some schools would round it up to a B+.
Is an 80% a 3.0 GPA?
No. On the standard scale an 80% falls in the B− band (80–82%), which is 2.7 grade points, not 3.0. A 3.0 is a B, which usually means 83–86%. The two numbers get mixed up because some schools report a percentage average and a GPA side by side, and the percentage is often a few points higher than the GPA suggests.
What is a 90% GPA on a 4.0 scale?
A 90% is usually an A−, worth 3.7 on the standard 4.0 scale. The 93–100% range is an A and 4.0, while 90–92% is an A− and 3.7. Some colleges set their own cutoffs, so a 90% is a 4.0 at a few schools — check your school's grading policy if the difference matters for a scholarship or program minimum.
What is the difference between semester GPA and cumulative GPA?
Semester GPA covers one term and resets each term. Cumulative GPA combines every finished term, weighted by credits. Colleges use them for different purposes: semester GPA often decides honors or probation for that term, while cumulative GPA drives major eligibility, scholarship minimums, academic standing and graduation. Your transcript reports both, and they can tell very different stories after a rough term.
Which classes count toward my college GPA?
Your college decides, and this is where a calculator and a transcript most often disagree. Pass/no-pass and withdrawn courses usually earn no grade points; transfer credit and AP or IB exam credit often count toward your degree but not your GPA; retake rules vary from counting both attempts to counting only the highest or latest grade. If your school excludes a passing course from the GPA, leave its credits out of the calculation too — adding them back will pull your real GPA down.
How do I calculate GPA on the quarter system?
The math is identical: multiply grade points by quarter units, add them up, divide by units counted. Three fall-quarter courses — an A in a 4-unit class, a B+ in 5 units and a B in 4 units — come to 44.5 quality points over 13 units, a 3.42. If you need to combine quarter and semester transcripts, multiply quarter units by 2/3 first, so 13 quarter units become about 8.67 semester credits. The GPA itself does not change; skipping that step is what makes quarter courses count for too much.
How do I combine my current GPA with a new semester?
Use the GPA hours printed next to your cumulative GPA on your transcript — not your total earned credits, which can be larger because pass and transfer credits are excluded. Multiply that GPA by those hours to get your existing quality points, add the new semester's quality points and credits, then divide. If you enter a prior GPA that your school rounded to two decimals, your result may differ from the official one by a hundredth or so, since the rounded figure is slightly off.