About the GPA Calculator
This GPA calculator works out your grade point average from a list of courses, each with a letter grade and its credit hours, using the standard US unweighted 4.0 scale. Because it weights each grade by how many credits the course carries, a four-credit A properly counts for more than a one-credit A, matching exactly how registrars calculate an official transcript GPA.
How to use the GPA Calculator
- 1
List your courses one per line, in the format Course name, Grade, Credit hours.
- 2
Use standard letter grades from A+ down to F — the tool recognises every grade on the 4.0 scale including plus and minus grades.
- 3
Read the GPA figure, along with the total credit hours it was calculated from.
- 4
Check the breakdown table to confirm each course's grade points were read correctly.
What people use it for
Checking a single semester's GPA
Enter just the current term's courses to see how this semester alone worked out, separate from your overall cumulative figure.
Calculating a cumulative GPA across every semester
List every course from every term completed so far in one go to get a genuine cumulative GPA rather than one semester at a time.
Planning what grades you need going forward
Add hypothetical future courses with target grades to see what GPA they would produce combined with grades already earned.
Why GPA is a weighted average, not a simple one
A simple average of grade points would treat a one-credit seminar the same as a four-credit core course, which does not match how much weight either actually carries toward a degree. The standard calculation instead multiplies each course's grade points by its credit hours, sums those products across every course, and divides by the total credit hours — a credit-weighted average that gives heavier courses proportionally more influence over the final figure, exactly as a transcript GPA does.
Why GPA scales differ between institutions and countries
The 4.0 scale used here, where A is 4.0 and grades step down from there, is standard across most US and Canadian institutions but is far from universal. Some US high schools use a weighted scale that adds bonus points for honours or Advanced Placement courses, some universities use a 4.3 or 4.5 scale with an A+ above 4.0, and many countries outside North America use entirely different systems, such as a 10-point or percentage-based scale. Always confirm which scale your specific institution uses before treating a figure from any calculator as official.
Tips
- Course names are only for your own reference in the breakdown table — only the grade and credit hours affect the calculation.
- Double-check any course with a plus or minus grade; A- and B+ are adjacent on the scale but differ by 0.3 grade points.
- For an official GPA on your transcript, always confirm the figure with your institution's registrar rather than relying solely on a calculator.