How to calculate your cumulative GPA
Your cumulative GPA combines every term. Add all quality points and divide by all credit hours — or use the shortcut: prior GPA × prior credits gives your prior quality points.
A cumulative GPA is your grade-point average across every term so far. You don’t need to re-enter years of courses — two numbers from your transcript carry everything the formula needs.
The shortcut
Your prior cumulative GPA already summarizes every past course. Multiply it by your prior total credits to get your prior quality points, then add this term’s quality points and divide by all credits.
Worked example
Prior record: 3.20 GPA over 30 credits = 3.20 × 30 = 96 quality points. This term: 3.60 over 15 credits = 54 quality points. Combined: (96 + 54) ÷ (30 + 15) = 150 ÷ 45 = 3.33. The cumulative GPA calculator does this for you.
Keep the basis consistent
Combine like with like. If your transcript GPA is unweighted, add unweighted term grades. Mixing a weighted prior GPA with unweighted new courses gives a number that doesn’t mean much.
Why one term moves it less over time
The more credits behind your cumulative GPA, the less any single term shifts it. A great semester lifts a first-year GPA quickly but barely nudges a senior’s. See how to raise your GPA for the math of recovery.