CALCS

Education

GPA calculator

Enter each course you took with its letter grade and credit hours. The calculator computes the credit-weighted average on the standard US 4.0 scale.

GPA (4.0 scale)
3.63
Total credits
10

Formula

gp_i = grade points for course i (e.g. A− = 3.7), cr_i = credit hours for course i. The denominator is total attempted credits.

GPA is the credit-weighted average of grade points: harder courses (more credits) count more, easier ones less. A 3.0 GPA is roughly a B average, a 3.5 is between B+ and A−, a 4.0 is straight A's. Most US colleges use the 4.0 scale with +/− distinctions (some don't recognize +/− and round to whole letters).

This calculator uses the most common US convention: A+ and A are both 4.0, A− is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B is 3.0, and so on down to F at 0.0. Some schools use a 4.3-scale where A+ is 4.3 instead of 4.0 — adjust manually if that's your school.

Weighted GPAs (where AP/honors courses count on a 5.0 scale) are common in US high schools but not college. This calculator uses the unweighted 4.0 scale only.

Examples

  1. 013 courses: A (3 cr), B+ (4 cr), A− (3 cr)
    → (4.0·3 + 3.3·4 + 3.7·3) / (3+4+3) = 36.3/10 = 3.63
  2. 025 courses all C (3 cr each)
    → (2.0·15) / 15 = 2.00
  3. 034 courses: A, A, A, F (3 cr each)
    → (4+4+4+0)·3 / 12 = 3.00 — a single F crushes a strong term

FAQ

  • Depends on the school. Most US universities cap at 4.0 (A+ = A = 4.0). A handful give A+ a 4.3, which lets your GPA technically exceed 4.0. This calculator uses 4.0 = max. If your school differs, treat the result as a lower bound and adjust.

References