Free GPA Calculator
Calculate your unweighted GPA from letter grades and credit hours, see exactly where you stand, and find out what grade average you need going forward to hit the GPA you’re aiming for.
Your GPA is your total quality points (grade points × credit hours, added across all courses) divided by your total credit hours. Enter each course’s letter grade and credit hours below and your GPA updates instantly — no formula math required.
Enter your courses
Add your courses above to see a personalized breakdown of where your GPA stands and what it typically qualifies you for.
Grade Distribution
How your credit hours are spread across grade bands. This shows which grade range is doing the most work in your GPA.
🎯 Target GPA Planner
This is the question a plain GPA number can’t answer: what average do I actually need from here? Tell us your goal GPA and how many credit hours you have left, and we’ll calculate the exact average you need to earn in those remaining credits.
Fill in both fields above to see the GPA you need to average in your remaining coursework.
What Is a GPA and Why It Matters
A grade point average, or GPA, is a single number that summarizes academic performance across every course a student has taken. Instead of listing a dozen separate letter grades, schools convert each grade into points, weight those points by how many credit hours the course was worth, and average the result. That single number is what admissions offices, scholarship committees, academic advisors, and sometimes employers look at first, so it’s worth understanding exactly how it’s built rather than treating it as a black box.
This calculator produces an unweighted GPA, meaning every course counts on the standard 0.0–4.0 scale regardless of difficulty level. If your school gives extra points for Honors, AP, or IB courses, use our Weighted GPA Calculator instead, since weighting changes the math meaningfully.
How the GPA Formula Works
The formula
GPA = Total Quality Points ÷ Total Credit Hours, where Quality Points for a course = Grade Point Value × Credit Hours for that course.
Here’s what that looks like with real numbers. Say a student took four courses:
Worked example
- Biology (4 credits, grade A) → 4.0 × 4 = 16.0 quality points
- English (3 credits, grade B+) → 3.3 × 3 = 9.9 quality points
- Statistics (3 credits, grade B) → 3.0 × 3 = 9.0 quality points
- History (2 credits, grade A-) → 3.7 × 2 = 7.4 quality points
Total quality points = 42.3, total credit hours = 12. GPA = 42.3 ÷ 12 = 3.53.
Notice that credit hours do the heavy lifting: a 4-credit A pulls the average up more than a 2-credit A- does, which is exactly why two students with the same letter grades can end up with different GPAs if their course loads differ.
GPA Scale Reference
| Letter Grade | Percentage (typical) | 4.0 Scale Points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100% | 4.0 |
| A | 93–96% | 4.0 |
| A- | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86% | 3.0 |
| B- | 80–82% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79% | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76% | 2.0 |
| C- | 70–72% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–69% | 1.3 |
| D | 63–66% | 1.0 |
| D- | 60–62% | 0.7 |
| F | Below 60% | 0.0 |
These percentage bands are the most common convention in U.S. high schools and colleges, but every institution sets its own cutoffs — check your syllabus or registrar’s page if your GPA needs to be exact for an official record.
Common GPA Mistakes to Avoid
- Averaging letter grades instead of weighting by credit hours. A 1-credit seminar and a 4-credit core class should not count equally.
- Including pass/fail or audited courses. Most schools exclude these from GPA math entirely — check your transcript key before adding them here.
- Mixing weighted and unweighted numbers. If your transcript already lists a weighted GPA, re-entering those same grades here will not match it — that’s expected, since this tool is unweighted by design.
- Forgetting retaken courses. Many schools only count the most recent attempt, or average both — policies vary, so confirm yours before finalizing any figure for an application.
Frequently Asked Questions
A GPA calculator converts your letter grades and credit hours into a single 0.0–4.0 average, the same way your school’s registrar does. It’s useful for tracking academic standing, checking scholarship or Latin honors eligibility, and planning how much your grades need to improve to hit a target average.
It uses the most widely adopted U.S. 4.0 scale with standard +/- point values. Most high schools and colleges follow this convention closely, but some institutions use slightly different point values (for example, capping A+ below 4.0 or using a 4.3 scale). Confirm your school’s exact scale in your student handbook if you need an official-record figure.
GPA on its own usually refers to a single term or semester. Cumulative GPA combines every semester you’ve completed into one running average. If you’re tracking your GPA across multiple semesters, our Cumulative GPA Calculator is built specifically for that.
A 3.0 (B average) is generally considered solid and keeps most scholarship and program requirements open. A 3.5+ is competitive for honors programs and many merit scholarships, and 3.7+ typically puts you in range for Latin honors at graduation, though exact thresholds vary by institution.
No — this tool calculates a standard unweighted GPA where an A is worth 4.0 regardless of course difficulty. For Honors, AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment courses that earn bonus points at your school, use the Weighted GPA Calculator instead.
Use the Target GPA Planner above. Enter your goal GPA and how many credit hours you have left, and it calculates the exact average you need across those remaining credits — accounting for the GPA and credits you’ve already locked in.
At most schools, pass/fail (or credit/no-credit) courses are excluded from GPA calculations entirely — they still count toward your credit total for graduation, just not toward your average. Check your registrar’s grading policy to confirm.
It depends heavily on how many total credit hours you’ve completed. A single low grade in a 3-credit course out of 60 total credits moves your GPA far less than the same grade would with only 12 credits completed — the Grade Distribution chart above shows you exactly how much weight each grade band is carrying.
A percentage grade reflects performance in a single course. GPA translates that percentage into a point value (using the scale above) and then blends it across every course you’ve taken, weighted by credit hours, into one composite number.
Usually yes, but the mechanism depends on your school’s policy. Some institutions apply “grade replacement,” where only the new grade counts; others average both attempts into your GPA. Check your academic catalog, since this materially changes the math.
Related Calculators
Use these companion calculators to build out your full academic picture, from weighted GPA to final exam planning.
Methodology (How do i calculate GPA): This calculator uses the standard U.S. 4.0 unweighted grading scale with common +/- point values, sourced from widely published university and high-school registrar grading policies. It is provided for planning and estimation purposes. Your official GPA is always the figure recorded by your school’s registrar — always confirm against your institution’s specific grading policy for admissions, scholarship, or academic-standing decisions. Last reviewed for the 2026 academic year.