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GPA Calculator

A grade point average is a credit-weighted average of grade points, not an average of letter grades. Every difficulty with it comes down to two things: which grade point table applies to you, and whether the credits were actually used as weights.

Grade point average

3.4417

Total quality points
41.3
Total credits counted
12
Plain average of the grade points (no credit weighting)
3.5

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

GPA = Sum of (grade points x credits) / Sum of credits

gp
Grade points for one course — A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0
c
Credits or credit hours that the course carries
QP
Quality points — grade points times credits, the quantity that accumulates
GPA
Total quality points divided by total credits, usually reported to two decimals

How to check the result by hand

  1. 1

    Confirm the grade point table that applies to you

    The common 4.0 table runs A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, B- = 2.7, C+ = 2.3 and C = 2.0. Institutions vary, especially around A+ and around whether plus and minus grades exist at all, so take the table from your own handbook rather than from memory.

  2. 2

    Convert every course result to grade points

    Work course by course and write the points beside the credits. Our term becomes 4.0, 3.0, 3.3 and 3.7. Do this before touching the credits, so that a mapping error stays visible as a mapping error instead of being buried inside a product.

  3. 3

    Multiply each grade point by the credits for that course

    4.0 x 3 = 12.0, 3.0 x 4 = 12.0, 3.3 x 3 = 9.9 and 3.7 x 2 = 7.4. These are quality points, and they are the numbers that survive being combined with later terms.

  4. 4

    Add the quality points and add the credits, separately

    Quality points total 41.3 and credits total 12. Keeping the two sums in separate columns is what prevents the classic slip of dividing by four simply because there were four courses.

  5. 5

    Divide, then check the direction of the weighting

    41.3 / 12 = 3.4416667, which lies between the lowest grade point of 3.0 and the highest of 4.0 as it must. The unweighted mean of 3.5 sits above it, confirming that the heavy 4-credit B pulled the result down. Report 3.44 once, at the end.

For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate GPA page.