How are letter grades converted to points?

The standard US scale maps A to 4.0, A- to 3.7, B+ to 3.3, B to 3.0, and so on down to F at 0.0. An A+ is usually capped at 4.0 in an unweighted GPA, which is the convention this tool uses.

What does credit-weighted mean?

Each course's grade points are multiplied by its credit hours before averaging, so a 4-credit course influences your GPA twice as much as a 2-credit course. The GPA is total quality points divided by total credits, not a simple average of grades.

Does an A+ count as more than 4.0?

On most unweighted 4.0 scales an A+ is capped at 4.0, the same as an A. Some institutions award 4.3 for an A+, but the standard unweighted scale tops out at 4.0, which is what this calculator applies.

How do I compute a cumulative GPA?

Enter every course from all terms you want included, each with its credit hours. The credit-weighted formula naturally produces a cumulative GPA across multiple semesters when all courses are listed together.

What about pass or fail courses?

Pass or fail courses normally carry no grade points and are excluded from GPA. Simply leave those courses out of this calculator, since including them with an arbitrary grade would distort your average.

US 4.0 GPA Calculator

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The US grade point average converts letter grades into a 0 to 4.0 numeric scale and averages them by credit hours. This calculator does the credit weighting for you so heavier courses count proportionally toward your GPA.

How it works

Each grade maps to a point value, is weighted by credits, and the weighted points are averaged:

quality points = grade points × credit hours   (per course)
GPA            = Σ quality points / Σ credit hours

A+/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  F 0.0

Because the divisor is total credits rather than course count, a high grade in a big course lifts your GPA more than the same grade in a small one.

Example and tips

Two courses — an A (4.0) worth 4 credits and a C (2.0) worth 2 credits — give (4.0×4 + 2.0×2) / 6 = 22 / 6 ≈ 3.33 GPA, higher than the simple average of 3.0 because the A carries more credits. Leave pass or fail courses out, since they normally carry no grade points and would otherwise distort the result.