Cumulative GPA Calculator
A cumulative GPA combines every term you have taken into one credit-weighted average. Because it is credit-weighted, a strong term in a heavy load moves it further than the same grades in a light one.
Cumulative GPA
3.48
- Total quality points
- 261
- Total credits
- 75
- Change from the previous GPA
- 0.08
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
cumulative GPA = total quality points / total credits
- GPA
- Grade point average for a term, on the four point scale
- credits
- Credit hours earned in that term
- quality points
- GPA multiplied by credits, the numerator of the average
- cumulative GPA
- Total quality points divided by total credits
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Write down each term's GPA and its credits
Both numbers are needed. A 3.8 from a fifteen credit term and a 3.4 from a sixty credit term are not equal contributions, and the credits are what say so.
- 2
Multiply each GPA by its credits
3.4 times 60 is 204, and 3.8 times 15 is 57. These are the quality points, and they are the currency the cumulative average is built from.
- 3
Add the quality points and the credits separately
204 plus 57 is 261 points, and 60 plus 15 is 75 credits. Keeping the two totals apart until the end is what stops the credit weighting from being lost.
- 4
Divide points by credits
261 divided by 75 is 3.48. The result sits much closer to the larger term's 3.4 than to the smaller term's 3.8, which is exactly what credit weighting is supposed to do.
- 5
Compare against the previous GPA to see the move
3.48 minus 3.4 is 0.08000000000000007, so the good term lifted the cumulative average by a little under a tenth of a point. As the credit total grows, the same term would move it less.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate Cumulative GPA page.