How to calculate GPA
Grade point average is a credit-weighted average of grade points. This walkthrough uses the 4.0 table built into GPACalcy and a five-course term you can type into the calculator to confirm the total.
Updated October 27, 2026
What you need before you divide
A GPA is not the average of the letters on a page, and it is not the average of your percentage marks. It is the average of grade points, and courses with more credits count more. For each course you need three things: the letter (or the points your school already assigns to that letter), the number of credits or units, and the chart that turns the letter into points.
GPACalcy's 4.0 chart is a common U.S. college map. It is not a national standard. If your transcript legend uses different points for A− or B+, use that legend. On this site the 4.0 points are:
| Letter | Grade points |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| D− | 0.7 |
| F | 0.0 |
A and A+ share 4.0 on this chart, so an A+ does not raise the average above an A. Some campuses do give A+ a higher value, such as 4.3, and then cap the term average at 4.0. Do not assume that rule applies here. F is the only grade with zero points. A D− still adds 0.7 per credit.
The formula
Quality points for one course equal grade points times credits. Add the quality points for every course that counts. Add the credits for those same courses. Divide.
Term GPA = (sum of grade points × credits) / (sum of credits).
That is unweighted mode on the calculator. The credit field starts at 3. Change it. A 4-credit science course left at 3 credits will quietly under-count. The page ignores a row with no letter selected, and it ignores a row whose credits are zero or blank. Course names are labels for you. They are not part of the math, and they are not sent anywhere. The privacy policy describes that.
Worked example: one term, five courses
A student finishes Biology with an A (4 credits), English with a B+ (3 credits), History with an A− (3 credits), Calculus with a C+ (4 credits), and a one-credit studio course with a B−. Using the table above:
| Course | Letter | Points | Credits | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | A | 4.0 | 4 | 16.0 |
| English | B+ | 3.3 | 3 | 9.9 |
| History | A− | 3.7 | 3 | 11.1 |
| Calculus | C+ | 2.3 | 4 | 9.2 |
| Studio | B− | 2.7 | 1 | 2.7 |
| Total | 15 | 48.9 |
GPA = 48.9 / 15 = 3.26. The calculator shows 3.26, along with 48.9 quality points, 15 credits, and 5 courses. If you only average the five grade-point numbers, (4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 2.3 + 2.7) / 5 = 3.20. That 3.20 treats studio art as equal to Biology. It is the wrong GPA for any school that weights by credits. The gap is 0.06 here because the A is worth 4 credits and the B− is worth 1. On a transcript full of labs and lectures the gap is often larger. Trust the credit-weighted total.
What people skip
Plus and minus grades are the usual source of a mismatch. A student who turns every A− into a 4.0 will overstate this term. History is 3.7, not 4.0, so those 3 credits contribute 11.1 quality points rather than 12.0. That single substitution is 0.9 quality points, which on a 15-credit term moves the average by 0.06. Small on one line, real once several minuses are rounded away.
Percentage marks need a cutoff table before they become letters. Averaging 94, 91, 88, and 76 and then looking up one letter throws away the credits and the school's bands. The scale conversion guide does a percent example with unequal credits so you can see the size of the error. Do not feed the calculator a percentage in the grade menu. It only accepts the letters in the table.
Repeated courses are a policy question, not a math question. Some colleges replace the old grade in the GPA and leave the original on the transcript as a note. Some average both attempts. Some keep both forever. Enter the attempt your registrar still counts. If both still count, enter both rows. If the old one has been removed from the GPA, leave it off, even if you can still see it on the paper transcript.
Pass/fail is similar. A Pass at many colleges adds credits toward a degree and adds nothing to the GPA. This calculator has no Pass option, so leave that course off the list. Entering it as an A would invent quality points the registrar never stored. A Fail is often an F (0.0) and does belong in the average, with the credits your school uses. If you are unsure, the catalog beats a guess. The homepage answer on pass/fail says the same thing in shorter form.
Term GPA is not the transcript GPA
The large number on the calculator is the average of the rows on the screen. That matches a semester or quarter GPA when those rows are exactly the term. Your cumulative GPA also includes older terms. Mixing them without saying so is how a 3.8 term gets reported as if the whole degree were a 3.8. To combine a past record with this term, use previous GPA and previous credits, explained in the cumulative GPA guide. Using the courses above, a student who already had a 3.20 across 45 credits would not stay at 3.26, and would not stay at 3.20 either. The combined figure is a third number.
Check the page against paper
Type the five courses into the calculator on the 4.0 scale with Unweighted selected and "Include previous GPA" turned off. You should see 3.26, 48.9 quality points, and 15 credits. If you see 3.20, the credit boxes are probably still at 3 for every row, which forces Biology and Calculus down to 3 credits and pushes studio up to 3. If you see a cumulative line, the previous-GPA box is on and one of those fields has a number in it. Clear it or uncheck the box.
Quality points on screen are shown to one decimal, and the GPA to two. 48.9 / 15 is exactly 3.26, so rounding is not hiding anything in this example. When a division does not land evenly, the two-decimal display is a rounded view of the fraction. Keep the quality-point total if you need to show the work to an advisor.
Weights and the 5.0 scale are separate topics. If your school gives extra points for honors or AP, do not expect Unweighted mode on the 4.0 scale to reproduce that transcript line. Read weighted vs unweighted GPA before you change the toggle. The formulas the site actually runs are also summarized on About.
A smaller check you can do in your head
One A (4.0) in a 3-credit course and one B (3.0) in a 4-credit course is (4.0 × 3 + 3.0 × 4) / 7 = 24 / 7 = 3.42857, which the calculator displays as 3.43. Notice the B, with more credits, pulls the result closer to 3.0 than to 4.0. A plain average of 4.0 and 3.0 would have been 3.50. Any time the credits differ, write the quality points out. The extra line of multiplication is the whole method.
Related guides
- Cumulative GPA — fold this 3.26 term into an older record.
- Weighted vs unweighted — when a second GPA on a high school transcript means bonus points.
- Raising your GPA — how many new credits it takes to move an average you already have.