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Penn State grades on a 4.0 scale with only some pluses and minuses: A 4.00, A− 3.67, B+ 3.33, B 3.00, B− 2.67, C+ 2.33, C 2.00, then D 1.00 and F 0, with no A+, C−, D+ or D−. You can retake a course only after a grade below C, and if you raise a D or F you can ask for Grade Forgiveness to take the old grade out of your GPA, for up to 13 credits. Grades you earn at other schools never enter your Penn State GPA.
Penn State’s points: A 4.00, A− 3.67, B+ 3.33, B 3.00 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
CourseGradeCredit hours
Include your earlier GPA
Quality points are the more exact input when the displayed GPA has already been rounded. Do not include these same credits again in the course rows.
Raise my GPA: what would it take to reach a target?
These are future 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 Penn State’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.
Penn State’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Undergraduate Bulletin. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Penn State
Penn State multiplies each course’s grade points by its credit hours, adds them up and divides by the hours that count. Enter your courses above with these points already set.
The Pennsylvania State University letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Penn State
A course left out of the GPA adds no points and no hours. In the calculator, choose its code or “Not counted”; a code that counts as zero lowers the GPA like a failing grade.
How Penn State counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Penn State GPA
W
Withdrawal: you withdrew from the University, so every course that semester gets a W
Left out of your GPA, which counts only courses with a letter grade. You can withdraw up to and including the last day of classes, before finals begin. If you were accused of academic dishonesty in a course, the integrity process decides that grade instead of the W. Courses from a semester you withdrew don’t count as one of your two allowed attempts. Rule
LD
Late Drop: you dropped one course after the regular drop period
Left out of your GPA, which counts only courses with a letter grade, but the course stays on your record. A drop in the regular drop period (6 calendar days in fall and spring for full-semester courses) leaves no mark at all. A late drop needs no permission and costs $6 per course. It counts as one of your two attempts at that course. If you just stop going to class without dropping, you get an F. Rule
DF
Deferred grade: you couldn’t finish the course on time for reasons beyond your control
Left out of your GPA while it stands. You must ask your instructor before the final exam period begins, unless it’s an emergency. You then have up to 10 weeks after the final grade reporting deadline to finish. If no grade replaces the DF by then, it turns into an F and counts in your semester and cumulative GPA. You can’t graduate with a DF on your transcript. Rule
NG
No Grade: your instructor didn’t submit a grade on time and no deferred grade was approved
Your GPA is calculated without it, and an “I” shows next to the course on your grade report and transcript. Contact your instructor right away. If no grade arrives within five weeks after the grade reporting deadline, the Registrar changes the NG to an F. You can’t graduate with an NG on your transcript. Rule
SA or UN
Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory: you chose the SA/UN grading option instead of a letter grade
Neither enters your GPA. A C or better becomes SA; a D or F becomes UN. You can take up to 12 SA/UN credits in a bachelor’s degree (6 in an associate degree), no more than two such courses a semester, and none in General Education; your college may restrict it further. You choose it between the 11th and 21st calendar days of the semester, and after 21 days you can’t switch back to a letter grade. If you get a UN, you can retake the course only for a letter grade. SA/UN courses don’t count toward the Dean’s List GPA or credit load. Rule
AUS or AUU
Audit: you took the course without credit; AUS means your attendance was regular, AUU that it wasn’t
No credit and no effect on your GPA. You set up an audit before the semester or during the add period. Rule
XF
Failure for academic dishonesty, given only through the academic integrity process
Counts like an F (0.00) in your GPA. A grade from an academic integrity sanction can’t be forgiven, and it makes you ineligible for the Dean’s List that semester. Rule
CRX
Credit by Examination: you earned a course’s credit by passing an exam
Gives credit but no letter grade, so it stays out of your GPA. You need a C or higher on the exam for the credit to appear. Rule
TR
Transfer course: credit from another college or university
Only the credit transfers; the grade never enters your Penn State GPA. Rule
NCP or NCF
Pass or fail in a course that carries no credit
Left out of your GPA, which counts only courses with a letter grade. Rule
R
Research grade, recorded in place of a letter grade
Left out of your GPA, which counts only courses with a letter grade. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
You can repeat a course only if you earned less than a C, and you get two attempts. A grade or a late drop each counts as an attempt; courses from a semester you withdrew from the University don’t. A third attempt needs a Course Repeat Form in LionPATH after you meet with your adviser, and your college’s associate dean decides. Courses designated “repeatable” are outside this rule. Every attempt stays on your transcript, and a repeated course counts only once toward entrance to a major and graduation. Penn State’s pages describe the GPA effect in two ways. The Faculty Senate’s Policy 47-80 says the most recent grade counts in your cumulative GPA for up to 12 repeated credits; revisions to it were approved June 23, 2026 and are pending implementation. The Registrar and procedure H-2 describe Grade Forgiveness: once you’ve retaken a course where you earned a D or F and posted a better letter grade, you request it in LionPATH, and the old grade leaves your semester and cumulative GPA and stops earning credit. You can forgive up to 13 credits (7 in an associate degree, plus 6 more if you continue to a bachelor’s). One better grade forgives only one earlier attempt, in a course with the same subject and number. You can’t forgive a C or better, a grade from an academic integrity sanction, or a Penn State grade with a transfer course, and you can’t ask once you’ve graduated. Forgiveness doesn’t change an earlier Academic Warning or Dean’s List, except that a suspended or dismissed student whose GPA would reach 2.0 can return to good standing. Graduate and professional programs may still count every grade. Separately, if your cumulative GPA is below 2.00 and you’ve been away from Penn State for at least four calendar years, you can request Academic Renewal: your cumulative GPA starts over at 0.00 in good standing, your old grades stay on your record, and earlier courses passed with a C or better can count toward graduation with your dean’s approval. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Credits transfer, but grades and grade points don’t: grades from other colleges never enter your Penn State GPA. Only course work with the equivalent of a Penn State C (2.0) or better can be evaluated for transfer, and pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory course work normally can’t. A transfer course can’t be used to forgive a Penn State grade. AP credit depends on your exam score (3, 4 or 5, depending on the exam), and IB higher level exams with a 5 or higher are considered; AP and CLEP credit carry no grade and don’t affect your GPA. If you later take the same course at Penn State, that grade counts in your GPA. For a bachelor’s degree, at least 36 of your last 60 credits must be Penn State credits. Rule
Your semester and cumulative GPAs are calculated to three decimal places, then rounded to two on your transcript.
Penn State GPA lines
These are Penn State’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 Penn State
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.00 cumulative
Good standing, needed to declare a major and to graduate
You’re notified at the end of any semester when your semester GPA drops below 2.00. Your college can also disenroll you from a major for missing its own retention standards. Full rule
Below 2.00 cumulative
Academic warning
A hold goes on your registration until you meet with an academic adviser. You can keep enrolling as long as each semester GPA is 2.00 or higher, and warning ends once your cumulative GPA is back at 2.00. Full rule
Below 2.00 semester GPA while on warning
Academic suspension for two consecutive semesters (summer counts as one)
With 15 or fewer recovery points you can petition the Faculty Senate for a shorter suspension or a stay; petitions aren’t automatic. Recovery points are credits attempted × (2 − cumulative GPA), leaving out NG and DF courses. You return on warning, with your old cumulative GPA and a registration hold. Full rule
Below 2.00 semester GPA after a suspension
Academic dismissal: you can no longer take Penn State courses
After four calendar years you can seek re-enrollment through Academic Renewal. Full rule
2.00 cumulative
Minimum to graduate
You also need a C or better in every C-required course in your major, no DF or NG on your transcript, and at least 36 of your last 60 credits at Penn State for a bachelor’s degree. Full rule
3.50 semester GPA, 12 or more credits
Dean’s List, noted on your transcript
With 6 to 11.9 credits toward GPA you make the Part-time Dean’s List instead. SA/UN and audit courses don’t count toward the GPA or the credit load. An academic integrity sanction that semester makes you ineligible. Full rule
Top 12% of your college’s graduating class and at least 3.50 cumulative
Distinction at graduation: top 2% summa cum laude, next 4% magna cum laude, next 6% cum laude
You need at least 60 credits earned at Penn State (30 for an associate degree). The GPA cutoffs come from a distinction table built each September from earlier graduates’ GPAs. 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
Grade Forgiveness takes the old grade and its credits out of your GPA. Say you earn a D in a 4-credit course, with a 3-credit A and a 3-credit B+: (1.00 × 4 + 4.00 × 3 + 3.33 × 3) ÷ 10 = 2.60. You retake the course, earn a B, and request Grade Forgiveness. The D leaves your GPA and the B counts in its place: (3.00 × 4 + 4.00 × 3 + 3.33 × 3) ÷ 10 = 3.40. The D still shows on your transcript, and 4 of your 13 forgiveness credits are used.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Penn State 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.
