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UW grades with numbers, not letters: your instructor gives a grade from 4.0 down to 0.7 in steps of 0.1, or a 0.0, and that number is your grade point. There’s nothing above 4.0. A 0.0 counts in your GPA with its credits, and you get one if you stop going without officially dropping, or if an incomplete isn’t finished by the next quarter’s deadline. Repeat a course and both grades count in your GPA, though the credit counts once.
Looking for the University of Wisconsin–Madison? Its grade points and rules are on the UW–Madison GPA calculator.
UW’s grades are numbers, and each is its own grade points: 4.0, 3.9, 3.8 and so on down to 0.7, then 0.0.
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 UW’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.
UW’s rules checked in its General Catalog (Student Guide) and Scholastic Regulations, as published October 2026. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at UW
UW 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 Washington grades and their letter equivalents
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at UW
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 UW counts each code
Code
What it means
In the UW GPA
4.0 to 0.7
Passing numeric grades, in steps of 0.1
Each counts its own number in your GPA: a 3.6 in a 5-credit course is 18 grade points. 4.0 is the highest grade, and 0.7 is the lowest passing grade. The letters are only equivalents: A is 4.0–3.9, A− 3.8–3.5, B+ 3.4–3.2, B 3.1–2.9, B− 2.8–2.5, C+ 2.4–2.2, C 2.1–1.9, C− 1.8–1.5, D+ 1.4–1.2, D 1.1–0.9 and D− 0.8–0.7. Rule
0.0
Failing work (the letter equivalent is E): no credit earned
Counts in your GPA with all its credits, but earns no credit toward graduation. Grades of 0.6 through 0.1 can’t be given; if one is reported, the Registrar turns it into 0.0. Not dropping officially can also cost you a 0.0, and UW’s pages word this differently: the catalog and the withdrawal regulation say a course you don’t officially drop gets a 0.0; the Registrar says you’ll be given a failing grade if you’re registered but don’t attend; the grading regulation says the instructor may assign a 0.0 if you stop attending without completing the withdrawal process. Leaving the University without an official withdrawal puts a 0.0 in every course that quarter. Rule
I
Incomplete: your work was satisfactory to within three weeks of the end of the quarter, but circumstances kept you from finishing
Doesn’t count in your GPA or your registered hours while it’s an I. Your instructor doesn’t have to grant it. The grade is due by the next quarter’s grading deadline (for spring, the next quarter is autumn). If none is submitted, the I turns into a 0.0, which then counts in your GPA, unless your instructor submitted a default grade; in a CR/NC course it becomes NC. Your instructor can ask for one more quarter. Taking the course again won’t replace an I. Rule
S or NS
Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory, a grading option you choose
Neither counts in your GPA. Your instructor still gives a number: 2.0 or above becomes S, below 2.0 becomes NS. S credits count toward the 180 you need to graduate; NS credits don’t. An S can’t meet a department, college or University requirement. You can register for up to 20 S/NS credits, and up to 25 can count toward your degree. You can switch to or from S/NS until 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the quarter. Rule
CR or NC
Credit or No Credit, in a course offered only that way
Neither counts in your GPA. Credit is for work at the level of a 0.7 or better. Rule
RD
Registrar Drop: a course dropped after week 2, or changed to a drop after the quarter
Doesn’t count in your GPA. Drops by the 14th calendar day leave nothing on your transcript. From week 3 to the last day of instruction, you can drop one course a quarter yourself in Register.UW. Withdrawing from the University after day 14 gives RD in every course. After the quarter, a Former Quarter Drop petition can change a grade to RD if circumstances beyond your control kept you from dropping. It doesn’t affect your GPA or standing, but a request made to raise your GPA is denied. Rule
Neither counts in your GPA. Drops have been marked RD since Spring 2020. Rule
N
In Progress, in thesis, research and hyphenated courses that run past one quarter
Carries no credit or grade, so it’s out of your GPA until a regular grade is assigned. Rule
X
Missing grade: your instructor didn’t submit one by the deadline
Not a grade, so it has no grade points and no effect on your GPA. Rule
Audit
You attend without credit, with the instructor’s consent
Never on your transcript and never in your GPA. You take no exams and earn no credit. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
With the department’s approval, you can repeat a course once. Both the original grade and the second grade count in your GPA, but the credit counts only once, so a retake doesn’t replace a low grade. A course counts as taken once if you got a numeric grade, an I, CR/NC or S/NS; a withdrawal, a drop, an X or no grade doesn’t. A third or later try needs the department to register you, and its grade isn’t included in your GPA. A Former Quarter Drop isn’t a way to erase a grade: requests made to improve your GPA are denied. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Your UW GPA counts only UW coursework. The Scholastic Regulations say the cumulative GPA leaves out transfer, extension and credit-by-exam credits; the catalog says it’s based on courses in residence and includes some, but not all, UW Extension courses. The graduation GPA uses resident credits and DL courses. Transfer grades aren’t in your UW GPA, and after an academic drop you can’t use grades from other schools to raise it. Admissions does compute a separate transfer GPA, using your old school’s own grade values and repeat policy; it’s used only for admission, though programs with special admission requirements consider it. Up to 90 lower-division transfer credits and 135 transfer credits in all count toward the 180, and 45 of your last 60 credits must be in residence. Rule
UW doesn’t publish a rounding rule, but the catalog’s worked example shows 19.6 ÷ 13 (1.507…) as 1.51, so it rounds to two decimals rather than cutting.
UW GPA lines
These are UW’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 UW
GPA line
What it means
Also required
Below 2.00 in your first quarter
Academic Alert
If your cumulative GPA isn’t back to 2.00 by the end of your second quarter, you go on Academic Warning. Full rule
Below 2.00 cumulative
Academic Warning
You come off it at the end of any quarter your cumulative GPA reaches 2.00. Full rule
2.00 quarterly or 2.00 cumulative in your warning quarter
Avoiding Academic Drop
On Academic Warning, you’re dropped at the end of the quarter unless you reach one of the two. Readmission after a drop is only under exceptional circumstances; you return on Academic Warning and are dropped again without a 2.00 the next quarter or a 2.00 cumulative UW GPA. Full rule
2.00 cumulative
Minimum GPA for a bachelor’s degree
Computed on resident and DL credits. If your last quarter puts you on Academic Warning, you don’t get the degree until you’re off it. Full rule
2.00 in major or minor courses (if your program sets it)
Program GPA requirement
Programs may require a 2.00 in the courses for your major or minor; a higher line needs justification, and one above 2.50 needs exceptionally strong justification. Full rule
3.50 quarterly GPA
Quarterly Dean’s List
On a first bachelor’s degree. The Registrar asks for at least 12 graded credits; the Scholastic Regulations say at least 12 registered credits. Full rule
3.50
Annual Dean’s List
UW’s pages describe it differently. The Registrar: a 3.50 quarterly GPA in 12 or more numerically graded credits in each of three quarters (summer through spring), plus 3.50 in a fourth quarter if you took 10 or more credits in it. The Scholastic Regulations: a 3.50 cumulative GPA for at least 36 resident credits in three quarters or 46 in four during the year. Full rule
Set yearly by college: Arts & Sciences 3.91 / 3.97 / 4.00 (Seattle, 2025–26)
Cum laude / magna cum laude / summa cum laude
The Honors Committee sets the lines each year for each campus. Summa is the top 0.5%, magna the next 3% and cum laude the next 6.5%. Seattle, Autumn 2025–Summer 2026: Built Environments 3.83 / 3.88 / 3.95; Business 3.83 / 3.90 / 3.96; Education 3.96 / 3.99 / 4.00; Engineering 3.86 / 3.93 / 3.99; Environment 3.86 / 3.94 / 3.99; Information School 3.91 / 3.95 / 3.98; Medicine 3.88 / 3.92 / 3.96; Nursing 3.98 / 3.99 / 4.00; Public Health 3.87 / 3.92 / 3.99; Social Work 3.95 / 3.98 / 4.00. You need a first bachelor’s degree and at least 90 residence credits, 60 of them numerically graded. 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 retake doesn’t replace a grade at UW. Say you earn a 1.5 in a 5-credit course and a 3.8 in another 5-credit course: (1.5 × 5 + 3.8 × 5) ÷ 10 = 26.5 ÷ 10 = 2.65. You repeat the first course and earn a 3.2. Both grades count in your GPA, though the credit counts once: (7.5 + 16 + 19) ÷ 15 = 42.5 ÷ 15 ≈ 2.83. A third try wouldn’t count in your GPA at all.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your UW 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.
