Step 1 — Convert grades to grade points
The standard 4.0 scale assigns grade points to each letter grade:
| Letter grade | Grade points (4.0 scale) | Typical percentage |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.0 (some schools: 4.3) | 97–100% |
| A | 4.0 | 93–96% |
| A− | 3.7 | 90–92% |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87–89% |
| B | 3.0 | 83–86% |
| B− | 2.7 | 80–82% |
| C+ | 2.3 | 77–79% |
| C | 2.0 | 73–76% |
| C− | 1.7 | 70–72% |
| D+ | 1.3 | 67–69% |
| D | 1.0 | 63–66% |
| D− | 0.7 | 60–62% |
| F | 0.0 | Below 60% |
Not all schools use every grade step. Some use only A/B/C/D/F without plus/minus modifiers. Check your institution's academic catalog for the exact scale it uses.
Step 2 — Calculate semester GPA
For each course, multiply the grade points by the number of credit hours to get quality points. Then divide the total quality points by total credit hours.
| Course | Credits | Grade | Grade points | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology 101 | 4 | A | 4.0 | 16.0 |
| English 102 | 3 | B+ | 3.3 | 9.9 |
| Statistics 201 | 3 | B | 3.0 | 9.0 |
| History 110 | 3 | A− | 3.7 | 11.1 |
| Art Elective | 2 | B− | 2.7 | 5.4 |
| Semester total | 15 | — | — | 51.4 |
Semester GPA = Total quality points ÷ Total credit hours
51.4 ÷ 15 = 3.43
Step 3 — Calculate cumulative GPA
Cumulative GPA adds the current semester's quality points and credit hours to all previous semesters:
Cumulative GPA =
(Prior quality points + Current semester quality points)
÷ (Prior credit hours + Current credit hours)
Example: If before this semester the student had earned 90 credit hours with 288 quality points (cumulative GPA = 3.20), then:
- Prior quality points: 288.0
- Current semester quality points: 51.4
- Total quality points: 339.4
- Total credit hours: 90 + 15 = 105
- New cumulative GPA: 339.4 ÷ 105 = 3.23
One strong semester (3.43) raised a cumulative 3.20 by only 0.03 points after 90 prior credit hours — this illustrates why GPA improvement slows dramatically as credit hours accumulate.
What counts toward GPA
Courses typically included in GPA:
- All graded courses (A through F) taken at that institution
- Repeated courses (depending on school's grade replacement policy)
Courses typically excluded from GPA:
- Pass/Fail (P/F) courses where a grade of P is earned
- Audited courses
- Transferred credit (typically excluded from institutional GPA — check your school's policy)
- Incomplete (I) grades — until the grade is resolved
A failed P/F course (grade of F) may still count against GPA depending on your institution's policy — a Pass/Fail election does not guarantee a failing grade is excluded. Verify your school's P/F policy before electing that grade mode.
Scale variations
While the 4.0 scale is standard, some institutions use variations:
- No plus/minus scale: Only A, B, C, D, F — each assigned a whole-number grade point (4, 3, 2, 1, 0). This slightly inflates or deflates GPA depending on where a student's grades typically fall.
- A+ = 4.3 scale: Some schools assign 4.3 grade points to A+. This can push a GPA above 4.0 — reported as such on a 4.0+ scale transcript.
- High school weighted GPA: Weighted scales (adding 0.5 for Honors, 1.0 for AP/IB) are common in secondary school. Colleges typically recalculate to an unweighted scale during the admission process.