Tool · Investor Sam Edu

College GPA Calculator

June 30, 2026 • By the Investor Sam Editorial Team • Reviewed by Berly Sam Varghese, Editor
Your GPA is a credit-weighted average, which means a five-credit course counts far more than a one-credit lab. That is why simply averaging your letter grades gives the wrong number. This calculator does it properly: enter the credit hours and grade points for each course, and it returns your true GPA along with your total credits and quality points. Leave any unused rows at zero.

Example: Course 1 credits: 3 cr · Course 1 grade points (A=4): 4 gp · Course 2 credits: 4 cr · Course 2 grade points: 3 gp · Course 3 credits: 3 cr · Course 3 grade points: 3.7 gp · Course 4 credits: 3 cr · Course 4 grade points: 2.7 gp · Course 5 credits: 0 cr · Course 5 grade points: 0 gp

Grade point average3.32
Total credits13
Total quality points43.2

Worked example

Take four courses: a 3-credit A (4.0), a 4-credit B (3.0), a 3-credit A-minus (3.7), and a 3-credit B-minus (2.7). Multiply credits by grade points for each — 12.0, 12.0, 11.1, and 8.1 quality points — totaling 43.2 quality points across 13 credits. Dividing gives a GPA of about 3.32, higher than the simple grade average because the A carried full weight.

Frequently asked questions

How do letter grades convert to grade points?

On the common 4.0 scale, A is 4.0, A- is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B is 3.0, and so on down to F at 0.0. Some schools use a plain 4.0 for any A and no pluses or minuses. Use your institution's exact scale for an accurate GPA.

Why weight by credits?

A GPA is meant to reflect your performance across your total course load, and a heavier course represents more of your work. Weighting by credit hours ensures a four-credit course influences your GPA more than a one-credit one, which a simple average would miss.

How do I compute a cumulative GPA across semesters?

Add each semester as if it were a course: enter the total credits for that term and its GPA as the grade points. The tool then blends the terms by their credit weight, giving your overall cumulative GPA.

What about pass/fail or withdrawn courses?

Pass/fail courses usually do not carry grade points and are excluded from GPA — leave them out. Withdrawals typically do not count either. Only include courses that earn a graded, credit-bearing result on your transcript.

💎
InvestorSam.com
Stock analysis, market insights & portfolio research — free
Ready to put these numbers to work?
Get stock picks, earnings analysis, and market commentary from Investor Sam.
Visit InvestorSam.com →

Sources

Berly Sam Varghese · Editor, Investor Sam

Berly Sam Varghese is an engineer who treats money the way he treats any hard problem — something to be engineered, not gambled on. He funded years of education and built real financial stability the patient way, by living below his means and investing rather than borrowing. He writes for the person weighing what an education is really worth. He reviews and approves every article on Investor Sam and checks the figures against primary sources before anything is published. More about our standards.