Credit Hours GPA Calculator
Your GPA is not a plain average of your grades: it is weighted by credit hours, so heavier courses count for more. This calculator reproduces the registrar's method exactly. Enter each course on its own line as grade points and credit hours, and it returns your total quality points, total credit hours, and GPA. Use the standard four-point scale or whatever grade-point values your institution assigns, since the calculator uses the numbers you provide rather than assuming a scale.
Credit hours GPA formula
Quality points (course) = grade points * credit hours
Total quality points = sum of all course quality points
GPA = total quality points / total credit hours
This is the standard credit-weighted grade-point average used by US registrars. Each course's contribution scales with its credit hours, so a 4-credit course affects your GPA four times as much as a 1-credit course at the same grade.
Worked example
Four courses: A (4.0, 4 credits) = 16.0 quality points; A- (3.7, 3 credits) = 11.1; B (3.0, 4 credits) = 12.0; C (2.0, 1 credit) = 2.0. Total quality points = 41.1 over 12 credit hours, so GPA = 41.1 / 12 = 3.43.
Credit hours GPA: frequently asked questions
How do credit hours affect GPA?
GPA is a credit-weighted average, so a course with more credit hours pulls your GPA harder. A 4-credit A and a 1-credit C do not count equally: the A contributes 4 times 4 = 16 quality points while the C contributes 2 times 1 = 2. Dividing total quality points by total credit hours gives the GPA.
What are quality points?
Quality points are a course's grade points multiplied by its credit hours. They are the building block of GPA: sum the quality points for all courses, then divide by the total credit hours attempted. Most US registrars compute GPA exactly this way.
What grade points go with each letter?
The standard four-point scale is A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0.0, with plus and minus steps such as A- = 3.7 and B+ = 3.3. Schools differ, so enter the grade points your institution assigns; this calculator uses whatever values you provide.
Should I include pass or fail courses?
Usually no. Courses graded pass or fail typically do not earn grade points and are excluded from the GPA calculation, though they may still count toward credits earned. Check your registrar's policy, and leave such courses out of the inputs here unless your school includes them.
Sources and method
- Method: credit-weighted grade-point average (sum of grade points times credit hours, divided by total credit hours), the standard US registrar calculation. Grade points are user inputs.
- U.S. Department of Education general resources: ed.gov.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.