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UMass Amherst uses plus and minus grades: an A is 4.000, A− 3.700, B+ 3.300, B 3.000, B− 2.700, C+ 2.300, C 2.000, C− 1.700, D+ 1.300, D 1.000 and F 0, and there’s no A+ or D−. An F counts as zero, and so do an incomplete (INC) until it’s resolved, the IF it turns into, and a blank grade; W, P, Y, NR and AUD stay out of your GPA. You can retake a course only if you earned a C− or lower, and your last grade is the one in your GPA, though every attempt stays on your transcript.
UMass Amherst’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 UMass Amherst’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.
UMass Amherst’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Guide to Undergraduate Programs. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst 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 Massachusetts Amherst letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at UMass Amherst
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 UMass Amherst counts each code
Code
What it means
In the UMass Amherst GPA
F
Failing
Counts 0 points, and its credits count in your GPA. It earns no graduation credit. If you stop going to a class without dropping it officially, you get an F. An F in a course you took Pass/Fail also counts in your GPA. Rule
INC
Incomplete: you can’t finish because of severe medical or personal problems
Counts as an F (0 points, with its credits) until it’s resolved. Normally you get one only if you’re passing at the time you ask and the work can be finished by the end of the following semester. If it isn’t resolved by then, it turns into an IF. You can’t re-register for the course to clear it. Your academic status doesn’t change when a grade improves later, but an INC converted to a grade within 4 weeks of the start of the next semester is an exception. A Dean’s List that’s already published isn’t reconsidered when an incomplete is resolved. Rule
IF
Incomplete failure: an incomplete not resolved in time
Counts as an F: 0 points, with its credits in your GPA, and no graduation credit. The Registrar’s GPA page says it calculates as an F until a final grade is received. Rule
Blank (__)
No grade entered for you
Counts as 0 in your cumulative average and earns no graduation credit. Rule
W
Withdrawn: you dropped the course during the withdrawal period
Not a grade, and it has no effect on your GPA or graduation credits. A course you drop through the seventh calendar day of the semester doesn’t appear on your transcript; for fall 2026 that’s through September 14. From the eighth day through the W drop deadline, you can withdraw with your instructor’s signature and get a W; for fall 2026 the deadline is November 4. After that, you must finish the course unless your undergraduate dean grants a late withdrawal for extenuating circumstances. Rule
WP or WF
Withdrew Passing or Withdrew Failing
The Registrar’s GPA page lists both among the symbols left out of the GPA, so even a WF adds no points and no credits. Rule
P
Pass, under the elective Pass/Fail option
A P has no effect on your GPA but adds graduation credits. You can take one course Pass/Fail each term, and winter and each summer session count as terms; if you’re in a mandatory Pass/Fail course, you can add one more. Pass/Fail courses don’t satisfy General Education, even with a letter grade; the writing requirements can’t be taken Pass/Fail, and some majors don’t accept it. Choose it by the W drop date (November 4 in fall 2026). Your instructor isn’t told and turns in a letter grade. If that grade is higher than your cumulative average computed for the term, the letter grade is recorded instead of the P; otherwise you get the P, or an F, which counts. You can ask in SPIRE for the grade or the P either way, until you graduate. Rule
SAT
Satisfactory, in graduate courses numbered 600 or above
Doesn’t count in your GPA. In 600-level and higher courses, undergraduates follow graduate grading rules: SAT replaces the Pass/Fail option for most courses, and C−, D+ and D aren’t valid grades. Rule
Y
Year-long course in progress
No effect on your GPA. It’s replaced by a permanent grade when the second half of the two-semester sequence ends. Rule
NR
No grades submitted by the instructor for the whole class
No effect on your GPA, and no graduation credit until a grade comes in. Rule
AUD
Audit
No effect on your GPA or on graduation credit. You must elect the audit within the add/drop period with the instructor’s signature, and you can’t switch between audit and credit after that. Rule
CR, DR or IP
Credit, Dropped, In Progress
The Registrar’s GPA page lists these among the symbols not included in grade point calculations. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
You can’t repeat a course in which you earned a C or higher. A course with a C−, D+, D or F can be repeated once without permission, and a second time (three attempts in all) only with prior permission from your undergraduate dean; registering for it isn’t permission. Every attempt and grade stays on your transcript, but your last grade is the one in your GPA unless the dean files an appeal with the Registrar; the earlier attempt then counts for neither credit nor GPA. If you passed with a C−, D+ or D and fail the retake, you get no credit for either attempt. A grade set by an academic honesty sanction always counts. Retaking the course at another of the Five Colleges, another UMass campus or any other school doesn’t replace your grade, and if you have transfer credit for a course, you can’t repeat it on campus for credit or quality points. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Transfer grades never count in your UMass Amherst GPA, whether you took the courses before you enrolled or later, and they don’t count as residence credit. UMass Boston courses are treated the same way. A course generally transfers if you earned a C− (1.7) or higher; one you failed or passed below a C− doesn’t. Quarter-hour credits are generally multiplied by .67. Up to 75 transfer or test credits can count toward graduation, but you need at least 45 credits in residence. Five College courses are different: they count as residence credit and their grades go into your GPA, with A− 3.75, B+ 3.25, B− 2.75, C+ 2.25, C− 1.75, D+ 1.25 and D− 0.75. University+ courses you take in summer or intersession count in your GPA too. Rule
The Registrar’s GPA page divides your grade points by your graded credits and rounds to the nearest thousandth: its example, 24.800 ÷ 11 = 2.2545…, becomes 2.255.
UMass Amherst GPA lines
These are UMass Amherst’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 UMass Amherst
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.000 cumulative
Good academic standing
Your status depends on your cumulative GPA, whether you’re full-time or part-time and whether you came in as a first-year or transfer student. Full rule
Below 2.000 for the term, 2.000+ cumulative
Academic Warning
You’re told to consult your academic dean. Full rule
Below 2.000 cumulative
Academic Probation
Your standing is set by your cumulative GPA. Full rule
Below 2.000 again while on probation
Academic Suspension
Unless an appeal is granted. It’s a one-semester separation; file an Application for Re-enrollment by March 15 for fall or October 15 for spring. Your dean can place you on Probation Continued if your semester shows substantial improvement, or grant Immediate Reinstatement, which gives you one more semester to reach good standing. Suspension goes on your official transcript. Full rule
Below 2.000 after a suspension
Academic Dismissal
If you’re readmitted after a suspension and don’t reach or keep good standing, you’re dismissed unless an appeal is granted. Dismissal is a permanent separation and is recorded on your transcript. Full rule
2.000 overall and in your major
Minimum GPAs to graduate
You also need at least 120 credits, 45 of them in residence. Full rule
3.500 term GPA
Dean’s List
On at least 12 graded credits, meaning letter grades; P grades from mandatory or elective Pass/Fail don’t count. It’s published about six weeks after grades post (second week of February for fall, second week of July for spring) and is final once published. It isn’t a graduation honor. Full rule
Top 25% / 10% / 5% of your school or college
Cum laude / magna cum laude / summa cum laude
These are percentages, not fixed GPAs: the Registrar posts each year the GPAs that reach them, from the average of the previous three graduating classes. For September 2026 through May 2027 graduates: Humanities & Fine Arts 3.888 / 3.965 / 3.988; Information and Computer Sciences 3.870 / 3.968 / 3.991; Natural Sciences 3.858 / 3.965 / 3.990; SBS (with Education, BDIC, UWW and BGS) 3.837 / 3.955 / 3.990; Riccio College of Engineering 3.718 / 3.883 / 3.951; Isenberg School of Management 3.889 / 3.961 / 3.986; Elaine Marieb College of Nursing 3.890 / 3.977 / 3.990; Public Health & Health Sciences 3.827 / 3.941 / 3.976. The pages differ on the 45-credit minimum: the Academic Regulations say 45 calculable credits at UMass Amherst, the 2026–2027 Guide says 45 calculable credits (not pass/fail), and the Registrar’s Latin Honors page says 45 graded residence credits. Full rule
3.400 / 3.600 / 3.800 cumulative
Commonwealth Honors College Scholar distinctions
For honors college students who finish the full curriculum: 3.400 for Scholar and Scholar with Distinction, 3.600 with Great Distinction, 3.800 with Greatest Distinction, with all required honors courses at B or higher and thesis grades that rise with each level. You need 45 graded (not pass/fail) UMass Amherst credits that weren’t transferred. Full rule
Three years away
Fresh Start: prior work out of your cumulative GPA
After at least three years away, you can have all your earlier UMass Amherst work left out of your cumulative GPA. It stays on your transcript with a notation, and Gen Ed and elective credits with a C− or better still count toward graduation. You need 45 more residence credits after you return. 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
A Pass/Fail course can raise your GPA. Say you take English (4 credits) and earn an A−, Math (3) a B, History (3) a C+, and Psychology (3) Pass/Fail with a letter grade of A− turned in by the instructor. The Registrar first computes your average without the Pass/Fail course: (3.7 × 4 + 3 × 3 + 2.3 × 3) ÷ 10 = 30.7 ÷ 10 = 3.07. The A− (3.7) is higher than 3.07, so the A− is recorded and the average recomputed: (30.7 + 3.7 × 3) ÷ 13 = 41.8 ÷ 13 ≈ 3.215, or 3.22. Had the instructor turned in a B−, which is below 3.07, the P would stand and your GPA would stay 3.07; an F would count: 30.7 ÷ 13 ≈ 2.36.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your UMass Amherst 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.
