How GPA Is Calculated
4 min read · Updated 2026-10-18
The GPA formula
Your GPA is a weighted mean of your grades. For each course, the grade’s point value (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, and so on) is multiplied by the course’s credit hours to get quality points. Add the quality points for all courses, then divide by the total credit hours.
GPA = Σ(grade points × credit hours) ÷ Σ(credit hours)
The standard 4.0 grade-point scale
| Letter | Grade points |
|---|---|
| A+ | 4.0 (4.33 at some schools) |
| A | 4.0 |
| A− | 3.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 |
| B | 3.0 |
| B− | 2.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 |
| C | 2.0 |
| C− | 1.7 |
| D+ | 1.3 |
| D | 1.0 |
| D− | 0.7 |
| F | 0.0 |
Most US colleges use this plus/minus scale, but not all: some award 4.33 for an A+, some have no D−, and some record whole letters only. Your registrar’s catalog lists the exact values, and those are the ones your transcript uses.
Worked example: one semester
| Course | Credits | Grade | Points | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 3 | A | 4.0 | 12.0 |
| Calculus | 4 | B+ | 3.3 | 13.2 |
| Biology | 3 | A− | 3.7 | 11.1 |
| Studio art | 2 | C+ | 2.3 | 4.6 |
| Total | 12 | 40.9 |
GPA = 40.9 ÷ 12 = 3.41.
Averaging the four grades without weighting gives (4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 2.3) ÷ 4 = 3.33. That is 0.08 too low here, because the C+ sits in a 2-credit course and should count for half as much as a 4-credit one.
From semester GPA to cumulative GPA
Cumulative GPA uses the same formula over every term: total quality points ÷ total credits. Say you earned a 3.20 over 15 credits in the fall (48.0 quality points) and a 3.75 over 12 credits in the spring (45.0 quality points).
- Correct: 93.0 ÷ 27 = 3.44
- Wrong: (3.20 + 3.75) ÷ 2 = 3.48
Averaging the two GPAs gives the spring term too much weight, because it carried fewer credits. The cumulative GPA calculator combines terms the right way.
What usually doesn’t count
- Pass/No Pass (P/NP or S/U): earns credit toward graduation but carries no grade points, so it is left out of the GPA.
- Withdrawals (W), incompletes (I) and audits: no grade points and no GPA credits.
- Repeated courses: under grade replacement only the new grade counts; under grade averaging both attempts count. Check your school’s repeat policy.
- Transfer credits: many colleges accept the credits but leave the grades out of your institutional GPA.
- An F does count: it adds zero quality points but its full credits, which is why one failed course pulls an average down so hard.
Rounding
Keep full precision until the last step and round the final GPA to two decimals. Some registrars truncate instead of rounding, so 3.4083 becomes 3.40 rather than 3.41. When an application asks for your GPA, give the figure printed on your transcript.
Try it yourself
Skip the arithmetic with the GPA calculator — it computes semester and cumulative GPA automatically. For a single term, use the semester GPA calculator.