Grade Average Calculator: Average Your Grades Across Multiple Courses
You took five classes this semester. You got an A in one, a B+ in two, a B in one, and a C+ in one. What is your overall grade for the semester?
That is a grade average, the average of your grades across multiple courses, weighted by how many credits each course was worth.
This calculator does exactly that. Enter each course as a row with its grade either as a percentage or a letter grade and its credit hours. The calculator figures out your weighted average, the percentage that represents your overall performance across all those courses, plus the letter grade and GPA that average translates to.
What This Calculator Actually Does
This is a multi-course grade average calculator. Each row represents one course. You enter the grade you got in that course and how many credits it was worth, and the calculator computes a weighted average across all your courses.
Here is what makes it different from other calculators on this site:
Not for tracking a single course. If you want to track assignments, quizzes, and exams within one class, that is what the grade calculator does. This calculator is designed to calculate the average final grade across multiple courses.
Not for syllabus categories. If you are trying to figure out your grade in a course using category weights like “Homework 20%, Tests 50%,” that is a weighted grade calculation. This calculator does not do that; it averages course grades, not category grades.
Not for general weighted averages. This calculator is specific to academic grading with credit hours. If you need a general-purpose weighted average calculator for any context, that’s a different tool.
What this calculator IS for: You have grades from multiple courses, Math 88%, Science B+, English 92%, History B, Art A, and you want to know your overall average for the semester. Each course has a credit value, usually 3 or 4 credits, and courses with higher credit values count more toward the average. That is what this calculates.
The result is a percentage average, a letter grade, and a GPA value based on that average.
How Credit Weighting Works
The reason this calculator asks for credits is that not all courses count equally toward your overall grade.
A 4-credit course counts more than a 1-credit course. If you got an A in a 1-credit seminar and a C in a 4-credit lecture, your overall average is closer to the C than the A because the lecture course had four times the weight.
The formula is:
Average = Σ(grade × credits) ÷ Σ(credits)
That is the same weighted-average formula from math, applied to courses and credit hours rather than arbitrary weights.
Here is a concrete example. You took three courses:
- Math (3 credits): 88%
- Science (4 credits): 92%
- English (3 credits): 85%
The calculation:
- Math contributes: 88 × 3 = 264
- Science contributes: 92 × 4 = 368
- English contributes: 85 × 3 = 255
- Total: (264 + 368 + 255) = 887
- Total credits: (3 + 4 + 3) = 10
- Average: 887 ÷ 10 = 88.7%
The Science course (92%) had the most credits, so it pulled the average up slightly from what it would have been if all courses counted equally.
If you do not know what “credits” means, it is the unit used to measure how big a course is. A typical college course is 3 or 4 credits. Labs, seminars, and independent studies might be 1 or 2 credits. The more credits a course is worth, the more it contributes to your overall average.
If your school does not use credits, or you are in high school or a different system, enter “1” for every course, and the calculator will give you an unweighted average where all courses count equally.
Entering Grades: Percent or Letter
Each row has a Type dropdown with two options: Percent (%) or Letter.
Percent: You enter the percentage grade directly. If your Math course grade was 88%, you select Percent and enter 88.
Letter: You pick the letter grade from a dropdown. If your Science course grade was B+, you select Letter and choose B+ from the list.
Behind the scenes, letter grades are converted to percentages based on the grading scheme you selected at the top: US, UK, ECTS, or Australian. For example, in the US scheme with default thresholds, a B+ is 87%. The calculator uses that percentage in the weighted average calculation.
You can mix types within the same calculation. One row can be Percent (88%), another can be Letter (B+), and the calculator handles the conversion automatically.
If you need to adjust what percentage each letter grade represents, say your school uses different cutoffs for A, B, and C, click “Edit thresholds” and change the boundaries for the grading scheme you are using.
When to Use This vs. Other Calculators
There are several grade-related calculators on this site, and it is not always obvious which one you need. Here is the breakdown.
Use this calculator (grade average) when:
- You want to average your final grades from multiple courses
- You have course grades Math 88%, Science B+, English 92% and credit hours
- You want to know your overall performance for the semester across all classes
Use the grade calculator when:
- You are tracking one course across the semester
- You have assignments, quizzes, and exams with different weights within that course
- You want to run “what if” scenarios for a single class
Use the weighted grade calculator when:
- You are calculating your grade in one course based on syllabus category weights
- Your syllabus states: “Homework 20%, Quizzes 30%, Final 50%.”
- You need features such as drop-lowest or weight normalization.
Use the GPA calculator when:
- You want to calculate your cumulative GPA across multiple semesters
- You are entering letter grades and want GPA values (not percentage averages)
- You need to track weighted vs. unweighted GPA
The confusion usually happens between this calculator and the grade calculator. The line is simple: grade calculator = one course with many assignments. Grade average calculator = many courses with one grade each.
If you are mid-semester in one class and trying to figure out your current grade, you want the grade calculator. If you are at the end of the semester with final grades from all your classes and trying to figure out your overall average, you want this one.
What the Result Card Tells You
After you hit Calculate, the result card on the right shows four values.
Average %: This is your weighted average percentage across all courses. It is the main output, the percentage that represents your overall performance for the semester.
Letter: The letter grade that corresponds to your average percentage, based on the grading scheme you selected. If your average is 88.7% and you’re using the US scheme, that’s a B+.
GPA: The GPA value that corresponds to the letter grade, scaled to the GPA scale you set as the default, is 4.0. This is NOT a true cumulative GPA calculation; it is just the GPA equivalent of the average percentage. For proper GPA calculation across semesters, you’d use a dedicated GPA calculator.
Total credits: The sum of all the credit hours you entered. Mostly there as a sanity check, if you took five 3-credit courses, this should show 15.
The percentage and letter grade are the most useful outputs for understanding your overall semester performance at a glance.
Mixing Semesters: Should You?
This calculator can average courses from different semesters if you want, but whether you should depends on what you are trying to figure out.
If you are calculating an informal average, “What has my general performance been over the last two semesters?”, you can enter courses from both semesters and get a combined average. This works fine for a rough sense of how you’re doing overall.
But this is NOT the same as a cumulative GPA. A proper cumulative GPA calculation tracks letter grades and GPA values across semesters and accounts for repeated courses, pass/fail courses, and other nuances that this calculator doesn’t handle.
For most purposes, you will use this calculator for one semester at a time. You have five courses this semester; enter them, and you get your semester average. Next semester, you clear it out and enter next semester’s courses. That is the intended use case.
If you need to track GPA across multiple semesters properly, with semester GPAs, cumulative GPAs, and all the institutional rules that apply, a dedicated GPA calculator is the right tool for that. This calculator averages percentages weighted by credits.
FAQ: Grade Average Calculator
What is the difference between a grade average calculator and a grade calculator?
The grade calculator tracks a single course over a semester, including assignments, categories, and what-if scenarios. The grade average calculator computes the average of final grades from multiple courses, weighted by credit hours. Use the grade calculator for “How am I doing in this class?” Use this one for “How did I do this semester overall?”
What are credits, and how do I find them?
Credits, also called credit hours, measure how big a course is. Most college courses are 3 or 4 credits. Check your course schedule, transcript, or syllabus; the credit value is usually listed next to the course name. If your school does not use credits, enter 1 for every course to get an unweighted average where all courses count equally.
Can I enter letter grades and percentages in the same calculation?
Yes. Use the Type dropdown for each row. Set one to Percent and enter the percentage directly. Set another to Letter and pick the letter grade from the dropdown. The calculator converts letters to percentages based on your grading scheme and computes the average.
Is the GPA in the result card my actual GPA?
No. It is the GPA equivalent of your percentage average for the courses you entered. A real cumulative GPA calculation tracks letter grades across semesters and accounts for institutional rules. This calculator gives you the GPA value that corresponds to your average percentage. For true GPA calculation, use a dedicated GPA calculator.
Should I include courses from different semesters?
You can, but this calculator is designed for a single semester. If you want an informal average across semesters, go ahead. But for a proper cumulative GPA or multi-semester tracking, you need a tool that handles semester boundaries and GPA calculation rules.
How many courses can I add?
There is no hard limit. Click “Add row” to create as many rows as you need. Most students take 4-6 courses per semester, but if you took more, the calculator handles it.
What if I do not remember the exact percentage for a course?
If you know the letter grade, use the Letter type and pick it from the dropdown. The calculator converts it to a percentage based on your grading scheme. If you don’t know either, check your transcript or student portal; your final grades should be listed there.
Can I use this for high school grades?
Yes, if your high school uses credit hours or a similar weighting system. Enter each course’s final grade and its credit/weight value. If your high school does not weight courses, enter 1 for every course’s credit value to get an unweighted average where all courses count the same.
Does this calculator save my data?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored unless you click a share button. If you refresh the page, your data is lost. Use the “Copy link” button to save your calculation as a shareable URL.
Related Tools
- Grade Calculator: For tracking a single course across the semester with assignments, quizzes, exams, and what-if scenarios. Use this when you’re working within one class.
A single course does not determine your semester grade; your semester grade is the weighted average of all your courses. A strong grade in a 4-credit class pulls your average up more than a weak grade in a 1-credit seminar.
This calculator does that math for you. Enter your courses, grades, and credits to get an overall average percentage, letter grade, and GPA that show how the semester went.
No spreadsheet. No manual weighting. Just your semester average.