American schools split your grade into a percentage first, then squash it onto a 4.0 scale. The standard US chart runs in ten-point bands — anything from 90 to 100 is an A and worth a flat 4.0, 80–89 is a B, 70–79 a C, 60–69 a D, and below 60 fails. Add each course as a percentage with its credits and this calculator converts the way transcripts do.
American colleges and high schools report grades as percentages, and the unweighted 4.0 scale turns those into the GPA you see on transcripts. On the standard US chart an A is any 90-100 and worth a flat 4.0, a B is 80-89, a C 70-79, a D 60-69, and anything below 60 fails. Add each course with its percentage and credits and this maps every mark to its US letter and 4.0 GPA points.
How the US 4.0 scale works
Here’s the standard unweighted US grading table, the one from the 2009 High School Transcript Study that most schools follow:
- 90–100 = A (4.0)
- 80–89 = B (3.0)
- 70–79 = C (2.0)
- 60–69 = D (1.0)
- Below 60 = F (0.0)
Note there’s no A+ bonus. On an unweighted scale an A+ and an A are both 4.0, so a student with a run of perfect scores still caps at a 4.0 — that’s not a bug, it’s the unweighted system. The 5.0 figure you hear about comes from weighted scales for Honors, AP and IB courses, which is a separate thing.
What about plus and minus grades?
A lot of high schools and colleges use a plus/minus variant that slices each band into thirds: A− (90–92) is 3.7, B+ (87–89) is 3.3, B− (80–82) is 2.7, and so on down to D− (60–62) at 0.7. This calculator runs the plain ten-point scale — the most common one and the baseline colleges recalculate against for admissions. If your school’s transcript shows plus and minus letters, its points already sit on your official record, and your school’s chart is the authority.
The formula
GPA = Σ(grade points × credits) ÷ Σcredits
Each percentage becomes a letter, each letter pulls its points off the 4.0 scale, and you weight by credits. Credit hours matter just as much as marks — a 4.0 in a 4-credit lecture moves your GPA more than a 4.0 in a 1-credit lab.
Worked example
Say your semester looks like this:
- English 101 95% (A) × 4.0, worth 3 credits = 12.0 points
- History 82% (B) × 3.0, worth 4 credits = 12.0 points
- Intro Stats 71% (C) × 2.0, worth 3 credits = 6.0 points
Add the points: 12.0 + 12.0 + 6.0 = 30.0. Divide by the 10 total credits: 3.0 GPA. The 95 nearly pulls it up, but the 82 and 71 across 7 credits hold the average at a clean B. That credit weighting is the whole game.
Why the US scale is the one everyone compares against
The 4.0 is what US colleges use for transcripts, scholarships, and admissions, and it’s what foreign applications get converted to. Because it’s so standardized, a 3.5 from California means roughly the same thing as a 3.5 from Texas — which is why the US-style GPA calculator is the most-used tool on this site. If you’re converting marks from another country for a US application, this percentage-to-4.0 route is the common path.
Frequently asked questions
Can my GPA go above 4.0?
On an unweighted scale, no — an A is 4.0 and that’s the ceiling. A weighted scale can go higher, but there are two different ways a school does it: some put the whole transcript on a 5.0 scale, while others leave regular courses at 4.0 and pay a bonus of around +0.5 or +1.0 only on AP, IB and Honours courses. Check which one yours uses before you assume a number above 4.0 is reachable. Colleges usually recalculate unweighted regardless.
Is 70 a C or a D?
A 70 is a C (2.0) on the standard ten-point scale. It stays a C all the way down to 70, then drops to a D at 69. Schools that use plus/minus typically call 70–72 a C− (1.7) instead — check your school’s chart for which split it uses.
Is an A+ worth more than an A?
On an unweighted 4.0 scale, no — both are 4.0 and an A+ gives no extra points. Some colleges ignore A+ entirely, while a few use a 4.3 variant for it. The unweighted standard treats them the same.
What percentage is a B?
80 through 89 on the standard scale, worth 3.0 points. With a plus/minus split that becomes B+ (87–89), B (83–86) and B− (80–82), worth 3.3, 3.0 and 2.7 respectively.
Does this match my school’s GPA?
Only if your school follows the plain ten-point bands. Plenty of districts and colleges slide the cutoffs (A at 93 or 94, D at 65), and plus/minus schools give different points in-between. Your transcript is the real number — this calculator is for planning and converting.
Other tools
- GPA Calculator — US-style 4.0 and weighted 5.0 on a bigger tool
- Ontario GPA Calculator — percentage to GPA the Canadian way
- Letter Grade to GPA — already have letters? Convert them straight
- India CGPA Calculator — the 10-point scale with the CBSE 9.5 percentage
- Nepal GPA Calculator — the NEB 4.0 scale where A+ is any 90-100
- UK GPA Calculator — degree classifications converted to a US GPA on the 4.0 scale
- Australia GPA Calculator — the 7-point scale, where a High Distinction is 85+ and the GPA reads out of 7
- ECTS GPA Calculator — European module marks converted toward the US 4.0
- Percentage to GPA — single-mark converter on the 4.0 scale
- Cumulative GPA Calculator — semesters into an overall GPA
Or browse everything on the student GPA tools page.