What does GPA stand for?
GPA stands for Grade Point Average. It is a single number that sums up your grades across all your courses, on a scale that usually runs from 0.0 to 4.0 in the United States. Each letter grade is worth a set number of points, and your GPA is the average of those points, often weighted by how many credits each course carries.
On the standard US scale, an A is worth 4.0 points, a B is 3.0, a C is 2.0, a D is 1.0, and an F is 0. Many schools also use plus and minus grades, so an A- is 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B- is 2.7, and so on. Your GPA is the average of these grade points across your courses.
Most US colleges use a weighted average based on credits. A 4-credit course counts more toward your GPA than a 1-credit course. To get the number, each course's grade points are multiplied by its credits, those are added up, and the total is divided by the total credits. The result is your cumulative GPA.
There are two common types. An unweighted GPA caps at 4.0 and treats every class the same. A weighted GPA, common in US high schools, goes above 4.0 to reward harder classes like Honors or AP, where an A can count as 4.5 or 5.0. Always check which scale a school is using before you compare numbers.
| Letter grade | GPA points | Rough percentage |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | 93-100% |
| 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 | 1.0 | 65-69% |
| F | 0.0 | Below 65% |