Cumulative GPA calculator
Already have a cumulative GPA from prior terms and want to know where a new term leaves you? Enter your prior cumulative GPA and prior total credit hours below, add this term's courses, and switch on cumulative mode to combine them.
How to combine a prior GPA with a new term
- Enter this term's courses in the table above — letter grade and credit hours for each.
- Tick Combine with a prior cumulative GPA.
- Enter your prior cumulative GPA and prior total credit hours from your transcript or student portal.
- Read the New cumulative GPA figure that appears alongside your term GPA.
Behind the scenes this converts both sides back into quality points and divides by the combined credit total — the same method a registrar uses, not a shortcut average:
A full worked example
Suppose your transcript already shows a cumulative GPA of 3.50 across 30 credit hours. This term you take two courses: an A (3 credit hours) and a B (4 credit hours), unweighted.
Step 1 — this term's GPA
Step 2 — combine with the prior cumulative GPA
The new cumulative GPA moved from 3.50 to about 3.4865 — a small dip, because these 7 new credit hours are a small share of the 37-credit total. The more credit hours you already have, the less any single term can move your cumulative figure, in either direction.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I just average my prior GPA and this term's GPA?
Because a plain average silently assumes both GPAs came from the same number of credit hours, which is almost never true. A 3.8 from a 3-credit term and a 3.2 cumulative GPA from 90 credits should not be averaged as if they carry equal weight — the 90 credits represent vastly more of your academic record. Converting each side back into quality points and dividing by the combined credit total gives the correct, credit-weighted result.
What if I don't know my exact prior cumulative GPA?
Check your school's student portal or your most recent transcript — cumulative GPA is normally printed to two or three decimal places alongside your total earned or attempted credit hours. Using a rounded figure (say, 3.5 instead of 3.497) introduces only a tiny error, but for anything that matters formally, use the exact figure from your transcript.
Does this account for repeated courses or grade replacement?
No. Some schools replace or average the grade when a course is retaken, which changes both the quality points and the credit hours counted for that course. This calculator has no way to know your school's specific repeat-course policy, so if you have retaken a course, use the credit hours and grade your registrar actually counts toward your cumulative GPA, not the raw sum of every attempt.
Can I use this partway through a term, before final grades are posted?
Yes — that is one of the more useful ways to use it. Enter your expected or in-progress grades for the current term's courses to see a projected cumulative GPA, then come back and update the grades as they are finalised. Treat the result as a projection until grades actually post.