Use GPA credits, not earned credits
Pass/fail classes and transfer credit usually count toward graduation but not toward your GPA. Using total earned credits makes your GPA look harder to move than it is.
Cumulative GPA calculator
Your GPA so far, plus this term’s classes, gives your new overall GPA.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate a cumulative GPA?
Turn your current GPA back into grade points by multiplying it by the credits it covers, add the grade points from your new classes, and divide by all the credits together. A 3.2 over 45 credits is 144 points; add 42.7 points from 13 new credits and you get 186.7 ÷ 58 = 3.22.
Is cumulative GPA all four years?
Yes. A cumulative GPA covers every graded class at the school so far — all four years of high school, or every term of college — not just the latest semester.
Why did my cumulative GPA barely move?
Because it is weighted by credits. After 90 credits, a 15-credit semester is only about 14% of the total, so even a perfect term moves your cumulative GPA by a few tenths at most.
Where do I find my current GPA and credits?
On your unofficial transcript or degree audit in the student portal. Use the credits that count toward GPA — sometimes labelled GPA hours or quality hours — not total earned credits, which can include pass/fail and transfer credit.
How cumulative GPA works
Your cumulative GPA is not the average of your semester GPAs. It is every grade point you have earned divided by every credit hour those grades cover. That is why a semester with more credits counts for more.
The calculator rebuilds your past grade points from your current GPA and credits, adds this term’s classes, and divides once.
A worked example
You have a 3.20 GPA over 45 credits: 3.20 × 45 = 144 grade points. This term you take four classes worth 13 credits and earn 42.7 grade points (a 3.28 term). Your new cumulative GPA is (144 + 42.7) ÷ (45 + 13) = 186.7 ÷ 58 = 3.22.
| Grade points | Credits | GPA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before this term | 144.0 | 45 | 3.20 |
| This term | 42.7 | 13 | 3.28 |
| Cumulative | 186.7 | 58 | 3.22 |
Why averaging semester GPAs gives the wrong answer
A 4.0 in a 6-credit summer term and a 3.0 in an 18-credit fall term do not average to 3.5. The fall term has three times the credits, so the cumulative GPA is (24 + 54) ÷ 24 = 3.25. Always combine grade points and credits, never the GPAs themselves.
Plan the target, not the average
If you are aiming at a number — 3.0 for a program, 3.5 for honors — the raise GPA calculator works backwards and tells you the term GPA you need.
What this calculator assumes
- Your current GPA and credits are taken as your transcript shows them; the calculator does not know which grades are inside them.
- Repeated classes are not handled: if your school replaces an old grade, remove that grade’s credits and points from the starting figures first.
- New grades convert on the scale you pick (standard scale by default).