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Tufts uses plus and minus grades on a 0.333 step: an A is 4.00, an A− 3.667, a B+ 3.333, a B 3.00, a B− 2.667, a C+ 2.333, a C 2.00, a C− 1.667, a D+ 1.333, a D 1.00, a D− 0.667 and an F 0, and an A+ counts the same as an A, 4.00. An F counts as zero in your GPA, including an F in a course you took pass/fail; a W, a P, CR and an incomplete stay out. A retake never replaces your first grade, and what happens depends on it: after an F both grades count, after a D+, D or D− both grades count but only the retake earns credit, and after a C− or better the retake’s grade stays out of your GPA. Your term and cumulative averages are rounded to two decimal places.
Tufts’s points: A+ 4.000, A 4.000, A− 3.667, B+ 3.333 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 %
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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 Tufts’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.
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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.
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Tufts’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Bulletin. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Tufts
Tufts 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.
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Tufts
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 Tufts counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Tufts GPA
F
Failure
Counts 0 in your GPA, and its semester hours count in the hours you’re averaged over, so it pulls your GPA down. You get no credit toward graduation for it. An F in a course you took pass/fail counts the same way. A failed course in a semester brings an Academic Alert in both Arts and Sciences and Engineering. Rule
D+, D or D−
Unsatisfactory work but allowable for credit
Worth 1.333, 1.00 and 0.667 points. A D− or above is passing and fulfills foundation and distribution requirements, but some departments don’t accept a D toward the major. In Arts and Sciences, three-fourths of the semester hours you take at Tufts under standard grading (90 semester hours) must be C− or better. The advising degree-requirements page words this as three-quarters of your courses, not hours. You may repeat a course after a D-range grade (see retakes). Rule
P
Passing work (D− or better) under the pass-fail option, or in a course offered only pass-fail
Doesn’t count in your GPA; a failing grade under pass/fail is averaged in as an F. You’re graded as usual, the instructor isn’t told, and the registrar records a pass for a D− or better. In Arts and Sciences you must take at least 90 semester hours under standard grading (three-fourths of your Tufts hours if you transferred in), and only electives can be pass/fail, not foundation, distribution, major or minor courses. In Engineering at most eight pass-fail courses count toward the degree, none toward the SOE-Engineering + SOE-Computing or SOE-Mathematics + SOE-Natural Sciences hours, and major requirements can’t be pass-fail unless the major allows it. The pages differ on which first-year courses are barred: the Engineering Bulletin names ENG 1, EN1, EN3, ES2 and CS10; the Registrar’s Pass/Fail page names ENG 1, EN1, ES2 and COMP11. You must decide within the first 10 weeks, and for fall 2026 the deadline is November 17 at 11:59 pm ET; after that no form is accepted, and a pass/fail choice can’t be reverted. You can’t repeat a course you passed pass/fail for credit. If you later need the course for a major you didn’t plan on, you can petition your Advising Dean to restore the grade. Rule
W
Withdrawn
Shows on your transcript but doesn’t count in your GPA. You can drop a course through the fifth week with no record, and withdraw with a W through the tenth week; after that you get a grade. In your first semester as a first-year, transfer or REAL student you can drop with no record through the tenth week. For fall 2026 full-term courses the last day to withdraw is November 17 at 11:59 pm ET. A WL, withdrawn because of a leave of absence, also stays out of your GPA. Rule
I
Incomplete
Doesn’t count in your GPA while it stands. Your instructor must agree you’ve done substantial work and fill in an incomplete form naming the default grade you’ll get if you don’t finish, even an F; if you and the instructor don’t both sign it by the grading deadline, you get the default grade instead. The Bulletin says the work is due six weeks after the last day of finals unless the instructor sets another date; the advising guidance pages say within the first six weeks of the next semester. If you miss the deadline, the incomplete becomes the default grade. Incompletes aren’t earned credits, so an unresolved one can hurt your academic standing, and you can’t make the Dean’s List with work incomplete. Rule
PI or I#
Permanent Incomplete
Stays out of your GPA. The Registrar’s grading page says every incomplete turns into a permanent incomplete six weeks into the following semester, while the Bulletin says an unfinished incomplete becomes the default grade on the instructor’s form. The advising pages say that once work is no longer accepted you get the grade earned in the course or, when appropriate, a permanent incomplete. Rule
CR or NC
Credit or No Credit
Neither counts in your GPA. CR earns credit; NC earns none and isn’t acceptable for degree credit. Instructors give these grades to SMFA undergraduates in studio art courses. Rule
AU
Audit, no credit
Doesn’t count in your GPA. You can audit only with the instructor’s permission; you aren’t registered, earn no credit and can’t submit papers or take exams, and the Arts and Sciences Bulletin says the audit leaves no record on your transcript. Rule
NG
No grade submitted by the instructor
Stays out of your GPA until the instructor submits a grade. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
At Tufts a retake never replaces your first grade, and grades earned at Tufts are never removed from your record. Most courses can be taken for credit only once, and the first grade decides what a retake does. After an F you can repeat the course and earn credit if you pass; both the F and the new grade count in your cumulative GPA. After a D+, D or D− you may repeat it; the first attempt’s credit is removed, both grades count fully in your GPA, and the retake earns the full credit if you pass. After a C− or better, only the first passing grade counts for credit and in your GPA; the retake shows on your transcript but its grade stays out. A course you passed pass/fail can’t be repeated for credit. Courses a department designates as repeatable can be taken for credit more than once whatever the grade, within limits (at most four physical education skills courses, up to 8 semester hours). The SIS transcript key gives an older rule, that a course passed twice counts each attempt at half its credit; the 2026–2027 Bulletin’s rule above is the current one. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Transfer credit counts toward your degree, but the grade doesn’t come with it: transferred credits go on your Tufts record without the grade (as TRCR) and stay out of your Tufts GPA. You need a C− or better (a C or above for SMFA studio credit). You can’t take courses elsewhere in a fall or spring semester in which you take Tufts courses, and Tufts doesn’t accept online courses, internships or courses taken pass/fail internationally. Arts and Sciences students can transfer at most 60 semester hours; Engineering students at most half the hours their degree requires, and only from schools with accredited engineering programs in that discipline. From other summer schools you can normally transfer 12 semester hours a summer, 4 from a winter session and 20 in total after you enroll. Quarter hours convert at ⅔ of a semester hour, rounded to the nearest whole hour. You must earn at least 60 semester hours at Tufts or on Tufts-run global programs, and transfer students must spend at least four full-time semesters at Tufts. Cross-registered courses (at BC, Brandeis and BU) aren’t transfer courses: their hours and grades are recorded at Tufts. Courses and grades in Tufts programs abroad and exchange programs also count in your cumulative average. Rule
Tufts computes your average to three decimal places and rounds term and cumulative averages to two. The Bulletin’s own example rounds a term average to 3.29.
Tufts GPA lines
These are Tufts’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 Tufts
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.0 term GPA and 12 credits (Arts and Sciences)
Satisfactory Academic Progress (good standing)
You need both in every semester of full-time enrollment. Incompletes aren’t earned credits, and a letter grade that later replaces one doesn’t change that semester’s standing. Standing is reviewed in January for fall and June for spring. Fewer than 12 but more than 8 credits, or a failed course, brings an Academic Alert: you stay in good standing, and nothing goes on your transcript. Full rule
Below 2.0 term GPA (Arts and Sciences)
Academic Probation
Also if you earn 8 credits or fewer in a semester. You’re no longer in good standing, and the notation goes on your unofficial transcript. To return to good standing, earn at least 12 credits and a 2.0 term GPA the next semester. Full rule
Probation criteria met a second time (Arts and Sciences)
Required to Withdraw, then Permanent Academic Withdrawal
A second semester on the probation criteria, consecutive or not, means a required withdrawal: two semesters for BA/BS students, one for BFA and combined-degree students. You apply to return and come back on probation. Meet the probation criteria again after that and you may be permanently withdrawn. The Bulletin says the required withdrawal is recorded on your unofficial transcript; the advising page says your transcript. Full rule
Below 2.0 term GPA (Engineering)
Academic Probation
Also if you earn 0–4 semester hours, or fall behind satisfactory progress after your first semester (12 and 24 semester hours by the end of your first-year fall and spring, 39 and 54 as a sophomore, 70 and 86 as a junior, 102 and 120 as a senior). With 5–11 semester hours or a failed course you get an Academic Alert instead and stay in good standing. To return, earn at least 12 semester hours and a 2.0 term GPA the next semester; otherwise you stay on probation or are required to withdraw for one semester. Full rule
Probation criteria met again (Engineering)
Required Academic Withdrawal, then Permanent Academic Withdrawal
Meeting the probation criteria in a later semester normally means a required withdrawal for one semester. Meet them again after you return and you face permanent academic withdrawal, decided by the Committee on Academic Standing. Full rule
1.67 (C−) cumulative (BFA)
BFA satisfactory progress
You also need to earn at least 75% of the credits you attempt each semester. Missing this in good standing brings an Academic Warning; missing it again brings Probation, and again on Probation a required withdrawal for one semester. Full rule
3.40 term GPA (Arts and Sciences)
Dean’s List
With at least 12 semester hours enrolled, letter grades in at least 12, and no incomplete work. It goes on your permanent record. Combined BA/BFA students with 12 or more credits need a 3.4; there’s no Dean’s List for the BFA alone. Full rule
3.20 term GPA (Engineering)
Dean’s List
With at least 12 semester hours enrolled, letter grades in at least 9, and every course completed with no incomplete work. Full rule
3.50 / 3.65 / 3.80 cumulative (Arts and Sciences)
Cum laude / magna cum laude / summa cum laude
Fixed GPAs, plus A or A− grades in your major: at least 5 in courses adding up to 15 semester hours for cum laude, at least 6 adding up to 18 for magna and summa. Magna needs a department vote; summa needs the department’s confirmation and a special vote of the entire faculty, and a serious disciplinary infraction normally rules it out. The GPA is all grades earned at Tufts; grades from elsewhere don’t count, except cross-registration, Tufts domestic exchange and Tufts programs abroad. Full rule
3.20 / 3.50 / 3.80 cumulative (Engineering)
Cum laude / magna cum laude / summa cum laude
Each is approved by a special vote of the faculty. With substantial transfer credit or an unusually long program, a special evaluation of your Tufts record may replace these lines. A serious disciplinary infraction normally rules out honors. Full rule
1.67 (C−) cumulative (Arts and Sciences)
Minimum GPA to graduate
With 120 semester hours, eight semesters of full-time study, and C− or better in three-fourths of your standard-graded Tufts hours (90 semester hours). The Engineering section of the Bulletin requires at least 120 semester hours and eight full-time semesters but doesn’t state a minimum GPA. 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 Tufts a retake after a D keeps both grades. Say you earn a D and an A− in two 3-credit courses and a B+ and a B in two 4-credit courses, and withdraw from a fifth with a W: (1 × 3 + 3.667 × 3 + 3.333 × 4 + 3 × 4) ÷ 14 = 39.333 ÷ 14 ≈ 2.81, and the W doesn’t count. You retake the D course and earn a B. Both grades count, but only the retake earns its 3 credits: (1 × 3 + 3.667 × 3 + 3.333 × 4 + 3 × 4 + 3 × 3) ÷ 17 = 48.333 ÷ 17 ≈ 2.84. If the B replaced the D, you’d have 45.333 ÷ 14 ≈ 3.24. Had your first grade been a C− or better, the retake’s grade wouldn’t count at all.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Tufts 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.
