What is a 0.4 GPA?
A 0.4 GPA is between an F and a D average on the common 4.0 scale. On a plus/minus scale such as UT Austin’s, it is between an F (0.00) and a D− (0.67). A GPA has no percentage of its own: the NCES common scale gives percentages to single course grades (F below 60%, D 60 to 69%), not to an average of them. A 0.4 sits 2.71 below the 3.11 average of US high school graduates.
- Whole letters
- F to DNCES common 4.0 scale
- Plus/minus
- F to D−0.00 to 0.67, UT Austin
- Percentage
- Noneof its own: percentages belong to single courses
College lines from the UT Austin and University of Florida catalogs, checked .
Is a 0.4 GPA good?
In high school, a 0.4 is well below the national average: US graduates in 2019 had an average GPA of 3.11, up from 3.00 in 2009.
In college, it is below 2.00, the cumulative GPA under which UT Austin, for example, places students on academic warning, so raising it comes first: the table below shows how many credits bring it to 2.0.
- UT Austin academic warning (cumulative GPA): below 2.00 at the end of a grading period. A 0.4 is under it. Your college sets its own line.
The college lines come from each school’s own catalog. A scholarship, program or employer sets its own minimum, so check theirs. A weighted high-school GPA, with Honors or AP points, can go above 4.0. What counts as a good GPA puts every line on one scale.
What it takes to raise a 0.4 GPA
With 30 credits finished at 0.4, reaching 2.0 takes 24 more credits of straight A’s, or 48 at a B average (3.00).
| Credits finished | To 2.0 | To 2.5 | To 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 12 | 21 | 39 |
| 30 | 24 | 42 | 78 |
| 60 | 48 | 84 | 156 |
| 90 | 72 | 126 | 234 |
Each cell is credits finished × (target − 0.4) ÷ (average − target), rounded up. “Not at this average” means that average cannot reach the target, and a 4.0 cumulative GPA needs every graded course to be an A, so it is never in this table.
Plan it with your own credits
Example credits. Type yours over them, or
Example: Out of reach in 15 credits: straight A’s would bring you to 1.60.
For your exact courses, grades and repeats, use the GPA calculator’s target planner.
GPAs near 0.4
How a GPA becomes a letter
A GPA averages grade points: on the common scale an A counts 4, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F 0, each weighted by its credits. So a 0.4 says your grades average out to between an F and a D, not that every grade was the same. Percentages belong to single courses, which is why no GPA, not even a whole-letter one, has one percentage. The GPA scale chart lists every letter’s points.
To work out your own, enter each course’s grade and credits in the college GPA calculator, or use the high school GPA calculator for Honors and AP points.
Letters: NCES common scale and UT Austin’s grade points. National average: National Assessment Governing Board, 2019 High School Transcript Study results (NAEP High School Transcript Study, released March 16, 2022). Lines: UT Austin, Academic warning and dismissal (Catalog 2026–2027, checked September 27, 2026); University of Florida, Academic honors (Undergraduate catalog 2026–2027, checked September 27, 2026); UT Austin, Honors (Catalog 2026–2027, checked September 27, 2026).
Grading scales checked . Sources are at the bottom of the page.