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UMD uses plus and minus grades: A+ and A are both 4.0, A− is 3.7, B+ 3.3, and so on down to D− at 0.7 and F at 0. For a course you first took after your first semester and your first 24 attempted credits, a retake doesn’t replace the old grade: both attempts count in your GPA. And pass-fail hides only a C− or better, so a D+, D, D− or F in a pass-fail course counts like any letter grade.
UMD’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
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 UMD’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.
UMD’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Undergraduate Catalog. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at UMD
UMD 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.
University of Maryland, College Park letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at UMD
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 UMD counts each code
Code
What it means
In the UMD GPA
W
Withdrawal: you dropped a course after the Schedule Adjustment Period (the first 10 days of classes in fall and spring)
Left out of your GPA. A drop during the Schedule Adjustment Period leaves nothing on your record. In the Drop Period that follows, you can drop at most four credits with a W (or one whole course if it carries more). A W counts as an attempt under the repeat rules. Withdrawing from the university, from all your classes, is a separate step you can take until the last day of classes, normally only once as an undergraduate; courses from that semester don’t count as attempts. Rule
P (pass-fail)
Pass, in a course you chose to take pass-fail: your instructor’s grade was a C− or better
A P is left out of your GPA, though its credits count. A D+, D, D− or F stays on your record as that letter and counts in your GPA like any other grade. To take a course pass-fail you need 30 credits with a 2.0 GPA, 15 of them at UMD with a 2.0 UMD GPA. Only electives qualify, not college, major or general education requirements; you get one pass-fail course a semester and 12 credits in all, and never for a course you’re taking again. You can switch grading method only during the Schedule Adjustment Period. Rule
S
Satisfactory: a department option mark for satisfactory work, given in courses graded Satisfactory-Fail
An S is left out of your GPA. An F in a Satisfactory-Fail course counts in your GPA. Rule
I
Incomplete: your instructor’s option when your work has been satisfactory but illness or something else beyond your control kept you from finishing a small part of the course
Left out of your GPA while it stands. You and your instructor sign an Incomplete Contract; the work is usually due by the end of the next semester and never later than one year. If you don’t finish on schedule, the I turns into the grade the contract names, and your GPA is updated. You can’t clear an I by registering for the course again, and if you do retake it you can’t take it pass-fail. Rule
XF
Failure because of academic dishonesty
Counts exactly like an F: 0 points, with its credits in your GPA. Rule
AU
Audit: you chose to take the course without credit
Left out of your GPA and earns no credit. You must choose audit in Drop/Add by the end of the Schedule Adjustment Period. Rule
NG or NGR
No Grade (on your transcript) or No Grade Reported (in Testudo): your instructor hasn’t submitted your final grade yet
Left out of your GPA. If the grade still isn’t there after GPAs are calculated for the term, contact your instructor. Rule
ACD CLEMENCY-REMOVED
Academic Clemency, available one time when you return to UMD for your first bachelor’s degree after at least five calendar years away
Up to 16 attempted credits of D+, D, D− and F grades from UMD come out of your cumulative GPA. You apply to the Office of Undergraduate Studies before the end of your first semester back, and clemency is granted only once you complete that semester satisfactorily. The grades stay on your transcript, can’t meet degree requirements, still count for Latin Honors and still count toward your repeat limits. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
You can repeat a course only once, and no more than 18 credits in all; your dean’s office can allow one more attempt if you present a plan to pass. A W counts as an attempt, and so does retaking a UMD course at another school. Normally every attempt counts in your GPA. The exception: if you first took the course in your first semester at UMD, or by the end of the semester in which you reached 24 attempted credits (transfer credits count toward the 24, AP credits don’t), only the higher grade counts. The 2026–2027 catalog and the Registrar’s Course Repeats page agree on this. Every grade stays on your transcript, and you earn the credit once. You can’t take a retake pass-fail. The catalog also drops a UMD grade from your GPA when you retake that early course elsewhere and the transfer grade is higher. UMD’s Undergraduate Student Course Repeat Policy calls this exception the New Student Provision but words it differently: it counts the most recent grade, lets you decline it for a course by telling your dean before your graduation application deadline, and doesn’t apply it to transfer credit. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Your GPA counts only grades earned at UMD. Transfer grades never enter it: your official transcript shows the course title and credits but not the grade, though transfer grades still count for admission, Limited Enrollment Programs and degree requirements. A course generally needs a C− or better to transfer, or a D− or better from a Maryland public institution. AP, IB, A-Level and CLEP credit is posted as prior learning credit at the top of your transcript and counts toward your credits earned. If you later complete the matching UMD course, the exam credit is vacated and your UMD grade counts in your GPA. A UMD departmental Credit-by-Exam is different: it needs a C− or better, and its grade is posted as resident credit and counts in your semester and cumulative GPA. Rule
UMD doesn’t round your GPA: it truncates it at the thousandths digit, so 29.3 quality points over 13 credits is a 2.253. The calculator cuts to two decimals the same way, so 3.499 shows as 3.49, not 3.50.
UMD GPA lines
These are UMD’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 UMD
GPA line
What it means
Also required
Below 2.0 cumulative GPA
Academic Probation
You’re placed on probation after any semester that ends with your cumulative GPA below 2.0, and it’s noted on your academic record. You must see an advisor in your college early in the semester, and you can’t add, drop or register without an advisor’s approval. As a full-time student you must complete 9 or more credits each probation semester. Probation lasts until the end of the fall or spring semester in which your cumulative GPA reaches 2.0. If only your semester GPA falls below 2.0, you’re encouraged to meet with your advisor. Full rule
Below 2.0 cumulative after a probation semester (60+ credits), or below 2.0 for a probation semester (under 60 credits)
Academic Dismissal
With 60 or more credits, you’re dismissed if your cumulative GPA is still below 2.0 at the end of your probation semester. With fewer than 60, you stay on probation as long as each probation semester GPA is at least 2.0 and you complete the required credits, but you’re dismissed if your cumulative GPA isn’t 2.0 by the end of the semester in which you complete 60 credits. Reaching a 2.0 cumulative in a winter or summer term saves you from dismissal. Your next semester’s registration is canceled, and you normally sit out one fall or spring semester. You can apply to the Faculty Petition Board for reinstatement; once reinstated, you need a 2.0 cumulative by the end of your first semester back or you’re dismissed again. Full rule
2.0 cumulative GPA, and 2.00 in your major and minor courses
Minimum to graduate
If you started at UMD in Fall 2012 or later, you also need a 2.00 cumulative GPA across all courses used for your major, for your minor and for any undergraduate certificate, each counted separately. Your department, college or program may require more, and every degree needs at least 120 credits. Full rule
3.5 semester GPA or higher
Semester Academic Honors (Dean’s List)
Fall and spring only, for undergraduates who complete 12 or more credits with the regular grading method that semester. Pass-fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory and audit courses don’t count toward the 12. The honor is noted on your academic record. Full rule
3.900 cumulative GPA, or the top 10% of your college
Latin Honors: summa cum laude for the top 2% of GPAs in your college or school, magna cum laude for the next 3%, cum laude for the next 5% and for anyone else at 3.900 or higher
The cutoffs are set from the previous year’s graduates and published by college. For Fall 2026 through Summer 2027 they are, for example: Engineering summa 3.992, magna 3.965, cum laude 3.900; Business 3.985, 3.952, 3.900; Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences 4.000, 3.983, 3.900; Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 3.926, 3.887, 3.815. You need at least 60 credits earned at UMD (no more than 6 of them pass-fail or satisfactory/fail), and a GPA below 3.300 is never considered. Your final semester counts, and grades removed by Academic Clemency still count here. 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
For a course you first take after your first semester and first 24 attempted credits, a retake replaces nothing: both grades count. Say you fail a 4-credit course, retake it and earn an A, and also take a 3-credit B+ and a 3-credit B: (0.0 × 4 + 4.0 × 4 + 3.3 × 3 + 3.0 × 3) ÷ 14 = 2.49 (UMD’s three-decimal GPA: 2.492). Had you first taken that course within your first 24 credits, only the A would count: (4.0 × 4 + 3.3 × 3 + 3.0 × 3) ÷ 10 = 3.49.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your UMD 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.
