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KU grades on a 4.0 scale: an A is 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7, D+ 1.3, D 1.0, D− 0.7 and F 0, with nothing above an A (not every school uses the pluses and minuses). Your official KU GPA counts only courses you take at KU, so transfer grades and credit by exam stay out of it. W, I, P, CR, NC, S and U carry no grade points and stay out too, but an incomplete you don’t finish in time turns into an F, a U or the instructor’s lapse grade. If you retake a KU course at KU, the higher grade counts by default and the other attempt stays on your transcript without counting, up to five grade replacements in all.
KU’s points: A 4.00, A− 3.70, B+ 3.30, 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 KU’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.
KU’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Academic Catalog. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at KU
KU 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 University of Kansas letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at KU
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 KU counts each code
Code
What it means
In the KU GPA
F
Failure
Counts 0 grade points per hour in your GPA, and to get credit you have to repeat the regular work of the course. An F is also what an unfinished incomplete can lapse to. Rule
I
Incomplete
Carries no grade points and stays out of the GPA. It’s only for when part of the work wasn’t done for reasons beyond your control and the rest is satisfactory. You must finish by the instructor’s date, no later than one calendar year after the original grade due date or the last day of your graduation term, whichever comes first; otherwise it becomes an F, a U or the instructor’s lapse grade. Don’t re-enroll in the course to finish it. Rule
W
Withdrawal
Posts when you withdraw during the second period of the term; it shows on your record but isn’t used in your GPA and earns no credit. A course canceled in the first period doesn’t appear on your record at all, and in the third period you can’t withdraw. For financial aid progress a W still counts as attempted but not completed. Rule
CR / NC
Credit / No Credit option
Neither counts in your GPA. You may choose CR/NC for at most one course a semester; the instructor gives a normal letter grade, and C− or better becomes CR while D+ or worse becomes NC. CR hours count toward graduation, NC hours don’t. CR/NC courses can’t satisfy undergraduate major requirements, and the College says that if you mistakenly take a major or minor course CR/NC, a CR is figured at 1.7 and an NC at 0.0 for certification purposes. Some schools, scholarship committees and honor societies turn NC into an F, and law school applications (CAS) count NC as an F. Rule
S / U
Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory
Used only in courses the College or a school designates for S/U grading. Neither counts in your GPA; S hours count toward graduation and U hours don’t. Rule
P
Satisfactory progress (interim)
An interim grade for work that runs more than one semester, replaced by a grade when the course or project is finished. It carries no grade points. Rule
+
Credit by examination
Credit awarded on the basis of an examination or other experience rather than the regular course work. Credit-by-exam grades aren’t included in the GPA on your official transcript. Rule
M / NM
Mastered / Not Mastered
Used only for competency hours. The registrar’s grading scale lists M at 4.0 and NM at 0.0 for competency-based (CBE) courses. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
If you earn any letter grade from A to F in a KU course and repeat the same course at KU, the higher grade counts in your GPA by default: the other attempt stays on your transcript but is left out, even when the retake is the lower grade. It applies automatically (since Fall 2021) to undergraduate courses numbered 000–699, only to the same department, number and credit hours, not to a grade from an academic misconduct sanction, and not to courses already used for a KU bachelor’s degree. You get five grade replacements in all, and each retake uses one no matter what you earn. Courses outside the policy count every attempt in your GPA, and retaking a KU course elsewhere doesn’t replace the KU grade. The USRR’s GPA section words it more narrowly, as replacing a D or F with a higher second grade for up to five courses. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Transfer grades are not part of your official KU GPA, which reflects only KU coursework. KU computes a separate cumulative transfer GPA from all transferable graded (A–F) hours, D+ through F included, and uses it for admission; pass/fail-type grades and developmental courses stay out of it. A transfer course needs C− or better to count toward degree requirements. At most 75 hours can come from community colleges, your last 30 hours must be in residence at KU, and Academic Forgiveness doesn’t apply to credit from other schools. Rule
KU GPA lines
These are KU’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 KU
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.00 KU cumulative
Good academic standing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
A fall or spring term GPA below 2.00 with a cumulative of 2.00 or more is a “Good Standing Warning” that isn’t listed on your record. Full rule
Below 2.00 KU cumulative
College: notice the first time, then probation
You get only one notice semester. If you’re not back to 2.00 after it, or you’ve dropped below 2.00 before, you’re on probation. Full rule
2.00 KU term GPA (under 45 KU hours attempted), 2.50 (45 or more)
College probation requirement; missing it means dismissal
Applies every fall and spring semester until your KU cumulative reaches 2.00; nobody is dismissed at the end of summer. To come back after a first or second dismissal you sit out, take a transferable 3-hour Core 34 course if you still need one, and earn a 2.50 in everything taken since; a third dismissal is final. Full rule
2.5 cumulative (overall, professional and major coursework, overall and at KU)
School of Business: below it means probation
You stay on probation one more semester with a KU semester GPA of at least 2.5. You may be dismissed for a KU semester GPA under 2.5 the next semester, or for a cumulative under 2.2 after two consecutive semesters on probation. Full rule
2.0 semester and cumulative, university and engineering
School of Engineering good standing; below it means probation
A first-year student in their first semester between 1.75 and 1.99 is placed on academic notice instead. Dismissal can follow two consecutive semesters without a 2.0 university overall and engineering overall GPA. Full rule
2.0 cumulative in KU residence coursework
University graduation minimum
The College also requires a 2.0 in KU junior/senior courses in the major and in KU minor hours; Engineering requires 2.00 in all courses taken in the school. In the College, courses numbered below 100 don’t count toward a degree but do count in your GPA. Full rule
3.5 semester GPA, 12 letter-graded hours
Honor Roll (dean’s list) in the College and the School of Business
Fall and spring only, and the notation goes on your transcript. CR/NC courses don’t count toward the 12 hours. Full rule
3.75 semester GPA, 12 graded A–F hours
School of Engineering Dean’s Honor Roll
Fall and spring; noted on your transcript. Full rule
Top 10% of the graduating class
Graduation with distinction
Set by rank, not a published GPA, and the university caps distinction at 10 percent of a school’s class. The College requires at least 60 hours graded A–F at KU and uses your KU GPA unless your overall GPA with transfer work is lower; Engineering requires 64 hours at KU and an overall GPA with transfer credit also in the top 10%; Business ranks by KU professional GPA. Full rule
Top third of those with distinction
Graduation with highest distinction
That’s the College and Engineering rule; the School of Business catalog instead says the upper 3 percent of those awarded distinction. Full rule
3.5 in the major
College departmental honors minimum
Counts work at other schools as well as KU; some departments also set an overall minimum, and the independent research needs a B or higher. Full rule
2.0 cumulative KU GPA and 67% of attempted hours completed
Satisfactory academic progress for financial aid
Pharmacy students need 2.5. Checked after every term, summer included; the first miss brings one Financial Aid Warning term. F, incomplete, NC, withdrawn and forgiven courses all count as attempted but not completed. Full rule
Under 2.5 before a two-year break, 2.5 since returning
Eligible to request Academic Forgiveness
You also need at least 12 hours since returning and the dean’s approval. Up to four earlier KU terms can be discounted: the grades stay on your transcript but drop out of your KU 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 KU the better grade counts when you retake a course. Say you earn an A in a 3-hour course, a B+ in a 4-hour course and a D in a 3-hour course: (4.0 × 3 + 3.3 × 4 + 1.0 × 3) ÷ 10 = 28.2 ÷ 10 = 2.82. Retake the D course at KU and earn a B, and the B replaces the D in your GPA while the D stays on your transcript: (4.0 × 3 + 3.3 × 4 + 3.0 × 3) ÷ 10 = 34.2 ÷ 10 = 3.42. Had the retake gone worse, say an F, the D would still be the grade that counts, and either way you’ve used one of your five replacements. Retaking it at another school wouldn’t help: the KU D would stay in your KU GPA.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your KU 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.
