Quick Answer
GPA (Grade Point Average) is calculated by multiplying each course's grade points by its credit hours, summing these values across all courses, and dividing by the total number of credit hours.
What Is GPA Calculator?
Grade Point Average (GPA) is a standardized way of measuring academic performance across multiple courses, used by most universities, colleges, and many high schools. Rather than just looking at individual grades, GPA gives a single weighted number that reflects performance across an entire semester or degree program.
GPA is 'weighted' by credit hours because not all courses count equally toward a degree, a 4-credit course has more impact on your GPA than a 1-credit course, since it reflects more academic workload. Most institutions use a 4.0 scale, where an A typically equals 4.0 grade points, but some use a 5.0 scale or a different scale entirely, especially for honors or AP courses.
Your cumulative GPA (CGPA), the average across every semester of your entire academic program, is often what employers and graduate schools look at, while your semester GPA shows how you performed in a specific term.
How to Use
- 1Add each course you've taken or are taking.
- 2Enter the credit hours for each course.
- 3Select or enter the letter grade (or grade points) you received in each course.
- 4The calculator multiplies grade points by credits for each course, sums the totals, and divides by total credits to give your GPA.
Formula
GPA = Σ(Grade Points × Credit Hours) ÷ Σ(Credit Hours)Example: Three courses in one semester
- Course A: Grade = A (4.0 points), Credits = 3 → 4.0 × 3 = 12.0
- Course B: Grade = B+ (3.3 points), Credits = 4 → 3.3 × 4 = 13.2
- Course C: Grade = A− (3.7 points), Credits = 3 → 3.7 × 3 = 11.1
- Total grade points = 12.0 + 13.2 + 11.1 = 36.3
- Total credits = 3 + 4 + 3 = 10
- GPA = 36.3 ÷ 10
Tips & Things to Know
- A single low grade in a high-credit course will pull your GPA down more than the same grade in a low-credit course, focus extra effort on your heaviest-credit classes.
- Some institutions exclude pass/fail or audit courses from GPA calculations, check your school's specific policy before assuming all courses count.
- If your school uses a 4.0 scale but you're applying somewhere using a 5.0 scale (or vice versa), a separate conversion is needed, don't compare raw GPA numbers across different scales directly.
- Tracking GPA trend semester-by-semester (rather than just the cumulative number) can help you see whether your performance is improving, which matters for scholarship renewals and graduate school applications.