Free GPA Calculator for College Students

👨‍🎓️ College GPA 101

Before we tell you how to calculate your GPA, there is an essential part of the understanding what does GPA stands for. We will answer some basic questions in this section.

What is GPA in College?

GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a tool to measure one’s academic performance in college.

Each semester there is a specific number of hours or credits you can learn by attending your lessons or completing exercises and writing papers.

At the end of the semester, your GPA is calculated to show your overall performance.

Here’s why it’s significant to know if your results are weighted or not. Weighted courses demand more efforts but increase your GPA more effectively. Learn how to check your GPA for the better understanding of the grading system.

Weighted Vs. Unweighted GPA –What's the Difference?

Most colleges use unweighted GPA.

That means all your grades are measured on a scale of 0 to 4. When you earn an A, you get 4.0 on GPA scale.

But if your college uses weighted GPA, the scale might extend to 5.0 or even higher in some cases. It means, you can earn higher grades in specific courses.

Usually, they are tagged as AP or Honors classes, but you need to ask professors if these courses are weighted in your school or not.

Note that above on this page we are offering an unweighted college GPA calculator. This means that all of your courses have the same significance. If you need a weighted GPA calculator, check the tool we’ve made for high school students.

Why Is GPA Important?

For a regular student, studies are a marathon to earn the highest GPA. Why is that so significant?

Because your average GPA has a huge weight on your academic success.

The most significant function of GPA is the usage of this scoring system by universities when accepting graduates. But it also has other functions.

A list of situations where your GPA is necessary to estimate your skills includes:

• Applying for contests and college scholarships,
• Participating in organizations,
• Getting hired,
• Joining college clubs,
• Ranking for medals and prizes.

There’s also a vital fact—if your GPA is low or some courses have low grades, there’s a danger of being expelled. This is the reason why students are so stressed out about calculating their GPA and finding tips to improve it.

What Is CGPA?

CGPA means Cumulative Grade Point Average. It is a standard method for measuring academic performance and for determining eligibility for scholarships, internships, and career opportunities of college students. It is calculated by taking into account the grades earned in all of the courses that a student has taken over a given period of time, usually an academic year.

🧮 Calculating GPA in College

Every student in some moment of their life is puzzled by the question “How to calculate college GPA?” We’re here to tell you—you can calculate it in a click by using the college GPA calculator above.

Don’t have Internet access or just want to understand how GPA is calculated?

In this chapter, you’ll see a step-by-step instruction on how to figure it out.

Here, you’ll also find useful scales that you can download to your device and use anytime for precise calculations!

Step 1 – List Your Courses

Write down the letter grades and credit hours for the semester. This data is given to you by the college.

Here ‘s an example:

Step 2 – Convert Letters into GPA

Convert your letter grades into GPA. Computing GPA on 4.0 scale is easy. All you need to do is to use one of the tables below.

There are 3 types of grading that your college may use. Let’s name them letters simple, letters extended, and percentage scales.

1 Letter Grades to GPA (Simple Version)

Looking for GPA converter on 4.0 scale? There’s no need to, because here’s a simple table you can remember or download to your device.

2 Letter Grades to GPA (Extended Version)

Some colleges choose the extended version of the scale to estimate students’ performance. This is the same table as before but with the addition of +/- equivalents.

3 Percentages to GPA

And the last grading scale is for those who gain percentages instead of letters. The usage is simple—find the range that contains your percentage grade and choose the appropriate GPA.

Step 3 – Calculate the Grade Points

For this purpose, you should multiply every course’s GPA by its credit hours. Then, find out its sum and the sum of credit hours.

For our grades, we get the following results:

Step 4 – Calculate the Semester GPA

Divide the number of grade points by the average of credit hours:

48.7/14 = 3.48

There it is! Your GPA is calculated, and now you can decide how to improve it.

But what if you’re looking for overall GPA? Then, you need to make the next step.

Step 5 – Calculate the Overall GPA

Calculate your overall GPA by dividing the sum of total grade points by the sum of total credit hours.

Sounds difficult?

Then, look at this example:

Grade Points sum / Credit Hours sum = Overall GPA
189/51 = 3.7

Now you can calculate both cumulative and overall GPA with the help of our examples and scales. The formula is easy to use, but we’re ready to answer your questions in comments!

✅ What Is a Good College GPA?

We’re often asked by students if their GPA good/bad/needs improvement/enough and so on. This is great that you’re interested in your GPA improving because you’ll need at many situations in your life.

But the point is—this is a really relative issue. You are the only one who knows if your GPA is enough.

But we won’t leave you without any help, so let investigate some criteria that may help you with the decision.

College GPA Requirements

If you want to get into a medical, law, or business school after graduation, you need to do your best at gaining the highest GPA.

• You’ll need to get at least 3.7 to get into 10 top law schools and 2.7 to less successful ones.
• For medical schools, these numbers are—3.7 for top schools and 3.4 for others.
• For business schools, these numbers are—3.5 for top schools and 2.8 for others.

Note, that all these indicators are approximate, and you have to check every school you’re going to attend for their minimal requirements.

Also, mind that your expected GPA should be higher than the one you’re aiming at. Why? Because you shouldn’t only reach the lowest level. You also compete to be the best graduate.

GPA Requirements for Job

Some employers hire new candidates based on the combination of their skills, experience, and college GPA.

Such way isn’t a standard one, but many companies have high requirements in terms of your GPA. Try to make a list of places you want to work at and include their minimal GPA. It would motivate you to study harder and get better grades.

🎓 Scholarships by GPA 2024

As a student, you may not miss the chance to win a scholarship for further studies or investigation. Many scholarships have a requirement related to GPA. This is particularly common for merit-based scholarships, which typically require a certain GPA. However, even scholarships based on financial need may have a minimum GPA requirement.

Minimum GPA 2.6 - 3.0

The full list is to be found at Minimum Grade Point Average From 2.6 to 3.0 Scholarships.

1. Georgia Engineering Foundation Scholarships
   • Amount: $5,000
   • Requirements: interest in a career in engineering, US citizenship or permanent residence in the state of Georgia, enrollment in a collegiate program accredited by ABET or ACCE.
2. Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship
   • Amount: $20,000
   • Requirements: being a high school senior, demonstrating leadership in school and community, commitment to making a positive social impact.
3. Pest Management Foundation Scholarship
   • Amount: $2,000
   • Requirements: being a full-time undergraduate or graduate college student, majoring in biological sciences, having a 3.0 GPA.

Minimum GPA 3.1 - 3.5

The full list is to be found at Minimum Grade Point Average From 3.1 to 3.5 Scholarships.

1. UMW Freshman Honor Scholarship
   • Amount: $2,000
   • Requirements: being a freshman, 3.3 GPA, involvement in extra-curricular activities and citizenship.
2. WomenIn Scholarship
   • Amount: $2,500
   • Requirements: being a female full-time undergraduate student, graduate student, or an early professional, pursuing a tech career in game development, being at least 21 years old, and having a 3.3 GPA.
3. Jack Scura Fund Scholarship
   • Amount: $10,000
   • Requirements: being an incoming or current undergraduate student of a New Jersey college or university, having a disability, and having a 3.2 GPA.

Minimum GPA 3.6 - 4.0

The full list is to be found at Minimum Grade Point Average From 3.6 to 4.0 Scholarships.

1. Engebretson Foundation Scholarship
   • Amount: $10,000
   • Requirements: being a US graduating high school senior, having an ACT of 28 or an SAT of 1240, 3.75 GPA, demonstrating financial need, and planning to attend a 4-year college.
2. JMU Second Century STEM Scholarship
   • Amount: $54,304
   • Requirements: being a first-year student with a STEM major, demonstrating interest in the STEM field, and having a 3.75 GPA.
3. Vietnamese Physician Association of Northern California (VPANC) Scholarship
   • Amount: $2,000
   • Requirements: being of Vietnamese descent, being a high school senior living in Northern California, attending college in the coming fall or summer, and having an unweighted GPA of 3.6.

🏆 10 Best College GPA Calculators

Want to know your GPA?

That’s easy!

And there are many online free tools to help you out.

We’ve collected 10 GPA and CGPA calculators that are extremely comfortable and helpful. All you need to do is to put in some information into one of these GPA counters.

1. Free GPA Calculator by IvyPanda

The college GPA calculator by IvyPanda is quick, user-friendly, and totally free. This unweighted GPA calculating tool allows you to use either percentage or letter grading system.

To calculate a semester GPA, you need to choose the suitable grading system – letters or percentages. Then you should add the courses and grades. After that, your semester GPA and the CGPA will be calculated automatically. You can add another semester if necessary.

2. GPACalculator.net

This website has the most comfortable calculator for estimating your GPA. You can add as many classes as you need, use a simple 5-point scale or a 13-point one, combine semester, and more.

The usage is easy:

• Enter your course name (if you want to).
• Choose the letter you earned based on your form.
• Choose the number of credits for the course based on your form.
• Repeat for every course.
• Add a new semester if you need to.

As long as you add new indicators, your semester and overall GPA change without even clicking a key-button.

This service has a convenient interface and pleasant design.

3. GPACalculator.io

Another user-friendly tool you should give a try!

Within this service, you can extract your GPA from letter grades in no time.

Remember that GPA isn’t just an average of your grades—you should also take into account the number of credits.

To figure out your college GPA, do the following steps:

• Name your course if needed.
• Choose your letter grade from the list.
• Enter the number of credits.
• Repeat for every course.
• Add semesters if needed.

Your list can be as long as you want. Include all the courses to see the whole picture.

4. UCSB Undergraduate Education

A useful tool to learn your study statistics.

Firstly, enter the total number of courses. Then, fill in the fields Course, # of Units and Letter Grade.

As soon as you’re done, click Calculate and know your GPA, Total Grade Points, and Grade-Point Balance.

5. Swarthmore College

This tool is appropriate for middle school and college students.

Standardly, you can enter up to 8 courses. That’s not really comfortable, but you can always upload the page and enter new courses.

It supports 5-point scale and 12-point scale, so enter any letters you need.

This service is also full of helpful material for college students. Learn more about GPA itself, classes’ shadowing, credits’ transferring, AP and IB credits, and more.

6. Calculator.net

Here you can count GPA for up to 10 subjects at once. The functional is as easy as always—put in your information and get instant results.

You can fill in any grades whether they have pluses and minuses or not.

The website also contains useful tips on how to raise GPA and improve your grades.

Following the two basic tips will help—attend classes carefully and plan your work as a pro.

7. Coastal Carolina University

Another quick way to figure out your GPA. There are actually three GPA calculators—two cumulative GPA tools and one to calculate your semester grades.

On the website, you’ll also find dozens of guides and useful info.

8. Snow College

This website combines GPA calculation tool with the table for converting letters’ grades to points.

Below the table, there’s also another tool to figure out your cumulative GPA. For this purpose, you need to know your previous GPA and credits.

On Snow College, you can also find Cost Calculator and useful study tips.

9. Scholaro GPA

Scholaro is an international GPA calculator that allows you to convert grades or points from any country to the U.S. grades and calculate GPA.

Choose the country and grading scale, type your grades and find out your GPA. The tool also allows you to save the GPA report.

Scholaro will be especially helpful for international students who plan to apply to US schools, colleges or universities.

10. College Simply

This is not only the way to learn your GPA. It’s also a great database to find a college you deserve.

College Simply has a specific database that can advise an appropriate college for any GPA. It also estimates your chances to get in these or other colleges.

The good point:

You can sort all the results by states.

❓ College GPA FAQ

Updated: Nov 7th, 2024

🔗 References

1. How to Convert Your GPA to a 4.0 Scale - BigFuture
2. What a Good College GPA Is and Why It Matters - USNews.com
3. What Is a Good College GPA and How Can You Raise Yours?
4. What's the Average College GPA? By Major? - PrepScholar Blog