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Duke counts an A+ and an A as 4.0, an A− as 3.7, a B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7 and D+ 1.3. A D and a D− are both worth 1.0, and an F is 0. Each grade is weighted by its course credits (a half course is 0.5), and GPAs are truncated to three decimals, not rounded. Only the F counts as zero; an I you don’t finish in time, or an X for an unexcused missed final, turns into an F. S, U, W, WA, the Z of a two-course sequence and transfer credit (TR) stay out of your GPA. You can’t retake a course you passed with a C− or better. If you retake a D or an F, the first grade stays and both count in your GPA.
Duke’s points: A+ 4.00, A 4.00, A− 3.70, B+ 3.30 and so on.
The plus/minus cutoffs Wikipedia lists for US colleges: A+ from 97%, A 93, A- 90, B+ 87, B 83, B- 80 and so on down to D- at 60. It is not universal, so use your syllabus's cutoffs when they differ.Source: Wikipedia, “Academic grading in the United States”.
Your class cutoffs
Letter
Lowest %
Remove
Each letter starts at its lowest percentage and runs up to the next letter.
Rounding and decimal places
Follow your syllabus. A displayed percentage can round up while the unrounded score stays below a cutoff.
Only changes how results are shown. Extra places appear when rounding would push a score over a letter cutoff.
A letter typed as a score counts as the lowest percentage for that letter on this scale. Use the original percentage when you have it.
Only scales that publish GPA points can convert a percentage. Check that your school uses these same points.
Example courses. Change them to yours, or
CourseGradeCourse credits
Include your earlier GPA
Quality points are the more exact input when the displayed GPA has already been rounded. Do not include these same course credits again in the course rows.
Raise my GPA: what would it take to reach a target?
These are future course credits beyond the courses and earlier record entered above.
Pass/fail or a retake: what would change?
Whether a pass/fail course leaves the GPA and whether a retake replaces the old grade are your school’s rules; the table below shows Duke’s.
One grade higher: which course moves your GPA most?
Each line raises one course by one grade on the grade points above and leaves the others as entered, so a course that carries more credit moves the GPA more. A course you haven’t finished can be marked “Planned” in its ⋯ menu: the GPA so far then leaves it out, and the projection counts it at the grade you chose. A grade already on your transcript changes only under your school’s retake or grade-change rules.
Compare with a GPA line (dean's list, scholarship, good standing)Course groups and equal weights
Set a course's group or term, or mark it planned, in its ⋯ menu. Groups are just your labels: they don’t apply AMCAS or other application-service GPA rules.
Import courses from a transcript or spreadsheet
Copy the courses from your unofficial transcript, degree audit or a spreadsheet and paste them here, one course per line with its grade and credits. Term headings such as “Fall 2025” keep the courses in their terms. Your grades stay in this browser.
Line
Course
Read as
This replaces the courses above. You can put them back afterwards.
Save my courses or compare versions
Nothing is sent to us. Untick the box to forget them.
To compare plans, save the courses as they are now as a version, change them, and save again. Versions stay in this browser until you delete them.
Open a file you saved with “Save the versions to a file”, in this browser or another. It is read in your browser and sent nowhere.
Duke’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Undergraduate Instruction Bulletin. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Duke
Duke multiplies each course’s grade points by its course credits, adds them up and divides by the course credits that count. Enter your courses above with these points already set.
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Duke
A course left out of the GPA adds no points and no course credits. In the calculator, choose its code or “Not counted”; a code that counts as zero lowers the GPA like a failing grade.
How Duke counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Duke GPA
F
Failure
Counts 0 in your GPA and earns no credit. It stays on your record: if you take the course again, the new grade is added as a second entry and the F isn’t removed. An F while you carry four or more courses brings an academic warning. Rule
D+, D, D−
Low pass
D+ is 1.3, and D and D− are both 1.0. They earn credit, but at most two courses passed with a D count toward year-to-year continuation and the 34.0 credits you need to graduate. In Pratt, 32.0 of your 34.0 credits must be S, C− or better. A second D brings an academic warning. Rule
S / U
Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory
You can take one course a semester or summer session on S/U. S means C− or better, U means D+ or worse. Neither enters your GPA. A U earns no credit, keeps you off the Dean’s List that semester and counts as an F for warning, probation and dismissal. The registrar’s GPA page lists U at 0.0 in its undergraduate table, but its own text and the bulletin say S/U grades stay out. Rule
W / WA
Withdrawal after drop/add; withdrawal from an audited course
Permanent marks on your transcript; the GPA table gives them no grade points. Rule
I
Incomplete
You normally finish the work by the last class day of the fifth week of the next regular semester, or the I turns into an F. Rule
X
Absent from the final exam
Given instead of a final grade when you miss the final exam. It becomes an F if your academic dean doesn’t approve the absence. Rule
Z
First term of a two-course sequence
Shows satisfactory work in the first course; the grade for both courses is assigned at the end of the second one. Rule
TR
Transfer credit
Credit from another school shows as TR and never enters your Duke GPA. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
You can’t repeat a course for credit or a grade once you’ve earned a C− or better, unless the course description allows it. In Trinity, a D+, D or D− can be repeated only at Duke and only with your academic dean’s permission. Pratt lets you repeat a D-range grade in a required math, science or engineering course with permission. Both grades count in your GPA, and only one credit counts toward continuation and graduation. A retaken F also stays on your record as a second entry. Duke has no academic amnesty: every grade but S and U counts, with no exceptions and no appeal. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Transfer grades are never in your Duke GPA: approved courses are listed on your record, but the grades aren’t recorded. Only courses with a C− or better transfer. After you enroll, Trinity accepts at most two individually arranged transfer courses. If you transfer in, Duke can grant up to 17.0 of your 34 credits. Courses taken under the interinstitutional agreement (UNC-Chapel Hill and other nearby schools) are different: their grades go on your Duke record and into your GPA. Rule
The registrar truncates every GPA to three decimals instead of rounding it. Its own example: 15.5 ÷ 4.5 = 3.4444… is shown as 3.444. The highest possible cumulative GPA is 4.000. The calculator cuts to two decimals the same way.
Duke GPA lines
These are Duke’s published undergraduate lines, each with the other conditions its catalog sets. Your college or program may set its own, higher lines.
Published GPA lines at Duke
GPA line
What it means
Also required
One F (while taking four or more courses), or a second D
Academic warning
Issued by your academic dean. A U counts as an F here. Full rule
DD, DF or FF in your first semester; DDD, DF or FF later
Academic probation for the next semester
Applies when you carry 4.0 or more credits. To clear it you take four full-credit courses, no more than one S/U, and earn C−, S or better in each or a C average that semester. If you don’t, you’re dismissed. Full rule
Fewer than 2.0 credits passed in your first semester, or fewer than 3.0 after
Dismissal for at least two semesters
This semester check applies only if you don’t pass every course. Full rule
6.0 credits passed at Duke
Needed to continue into your 3rd semester (10.0 for your 4th)
Checked before each fall term. Only two D courses count toward these numbers. Full rule
34.0 course credits
Graduation
In Pratt, 32.0 of the 34.0 must be passed with S, C− or better. Full rule
Top third of semester GPAs (Spring 2026: Trinity 4.000, Pratt 3.925 to 4.000)
Dean’s List
You need at least 4.0 credits, including at most two academic half courses. The bulletin says no S/U courses count toward the 4.0; Trinity’s page now lets one of the four be S/U, and says Trinity first-years aren’t eligible at all. Full rule
Top 10% of semester GPAs (Spring 2026: 4.000 in both schools)
Dean’s List with Distinction
Same course-load rules as the Dean’s List. Full rule
Top 5% / next 10% / next 10% (2026: Trinity 4.000, 3.972, 3.947; Pratt 3.990, 3.944, 3.894)
Summa, magna and cum laude
Spring cutoffs; the listed GPA and higher earns the honor. Full rule
2.7 (Trinity) or 3.0 (Pratt)
Minimum GPA to study abroad or away for a semester or year
Trinity students below 2.7 can ask their dean for a waiver in unusual circumstances. Full rule
1.6588 cumulative after your second year
Federal aid Satisfactory Academic Progress
You also need to pass at least 67% of the credits you attempt. Full rule
To see how far you are from one of them, enter it under “Compare with a GPA line” in the calculator, or as your target in the target GPA planner.
A worked example
At Duke a D− is worth 1.0, the same as a D, and a retake never replaces it. Say you earn an A, two A−’s and a B+, plus a D− in a chemistry course, all 1.0-credit courses: 4.0 + 3.7 + 3.7 + 3.3 + 1.0 = 15.7, and 15.7 ÷ 5 = 3.14. With your dean’s permission you retake the chemistry course at Duke and earn a B. Both grades stay in your GPA: (15.7 + 3.0) ÷ 6 = 18.7 ÷ 6 = 3.11666…, which the registrar truncates to 3.116 and this calculator cuts to 3.11, not 3.12. If the B replaced the D−, you’d have 17.7 ÷ 5 = 3.54, but Duke has no replacement. Only one of the two chemistry credits counts toward your 34.0.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Duke academic record.
For any other college, the college GPA calculator starts on the common plus/minus 4.0 points and takes your school’s own. Cumulative GPA combines terms you already have, and the GPA guide answers what a GPA means.
