Stanford GPA Calculator
Stanford does not use the standard 4.0 scale most GPA calculators assume. An A+ is worth 4.3 at Stanford, the failing grade is NP rather than F, and every course is weighted by quarter units, so a generic calculator understates a Stanford GPA whenever A+ grades are involved. This Stanford GPA calculator encodes Stanford’s official 13-grade scale exactly as the university publishes it, and it folds a new quarter into your cumulative GPA when you add your prior GPA and units.
Calculator Zilo is not affiliated with Stanford University. The grade scale, formula, and policy rules on this page are Stanford’s published figures, each linked to its university source in the References, and your official GPA remains the one on your record in Axess.
Cumulative GPA (optional)
Quick Answer
On Stanford’s 4.3 scale, an A+ in a 5-unit course, a B+ in a 4-unit course, and an A- in a 3-unit course earn 45.80 grade points over 12 units, for a term GPA of 3.817. Rolled into a prior cumulative GPA of 3.50 over 60 units, the new cumulative GPA is 3.553 over 72 units. Both examples are pre-filled in the calculator above: press Calculate GPA to reproduce them.
- Quick Answer
- How to use this Stanford GPA calculator
- Stanford’s official grade scale: A+ is 4.3, NP is 0.0
- The formula, checked against Stanford’s own worked example
- Folding a new quarter into your cumulative GPA
- Which grades and courses never enter the calculation
- What competing Stanford GPA calculators get wrong
- What your Stanford GPA is used for
- Limitations of this calculator
- Frequently asked questions
How to use this Stanford GPA calculator
Enter one row per course, exactly as the grades appear on your record. The calculator weights every grade by its quarter units, the same way Axess does.
- Pick each course’s grade. Use the grade shown on your record, not a translation through a generic 4.0 scale. A+ is worth 4.3 here.
- Enter the quarter units. Most Stanford courses carry 3 to 5 units. If you are coming from a semester system and need to translate units first, the credit hours to quarter hours calculator does that conversion.
- Skip non-graded courses. Leave out anything taken credit/no credit: those courses never enter a Stanford GPA.
- Add your prior GPA if you want the cumulative figure. The optional section folds this quarter into your running total. Leave it blank for a term GPA only.
- Press Calculate GPA. You get the term GPA to three decimals, total grade points, and total GPA-bearing units, plus the new cumulative GPA when you filled in the prior fields.
This tool is for coursework graded on Stanford’s general scale. High school students estimating weighted Advanced Placement grades need a different calculation: the AP class GPA calculator handles AP weighting.
Stanford’s official grade scale: A+ is 4.3, NP is 0.0
Stanford uses a 4.3 scale, and the calculator above encodes that scale exactly as Stanford Student Services publishes it. Thirteen grades are GPA-bearing, from A+ at 4.3 down to NP at 0.0, and no other marks enter the calculation.
| Grade | Points | Grade | Points | Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.3 | B+ | 3.3 | C- | 1.7 |
| A | 4.0 | B | 3.0 | D+ | 1.3 |
| A- | 3.7 | B- | 2.7 | D | 1.0 |
| C+ | 2.3 | C | 2.0 | D- | 0.7 |
| NP | 0.0 | L (temporary) | 2.0 until the final grade posts |
Two details in that table are where other calculators fail Stanford students. First, there is no cap at 4.0: because A+ carries 4.3, a Stanford GPA can legitimately exceed 4.0, and this calculator never truncates it. Second, the failing grade is NP, not F. Stanford has no F grade; an NP counts 0.0 points and keeps its units in the denominator. The L row is Stanford’s temporary “pass, grade to follow” mark, counted at 2.0 only until the real grade arrives, so the calculator leaves it out and the FAQs explain what to do if you see one. Grade points are also the bridge to other credit systems: the credit hours to credit points calculator shows how points-per-credit math works where semester credit points are used instead.
The formula, checked against Stanford’s own worked example
Stanford multiplies each grade’s point value by the course’s units, adds the grade points, and divides by total GPA-bearing units. That is the whole formula:
Stanford’s own GPA guide works this example: a B- in 3 units, an A- in 4 units, and a B+ in 3 units give (2.7 × 3) + (3.7 × 4) + (3.3 × 3) = 32.8 grade points over 10 units, a 3.28 GPA. Enter those three courses in the calculator and it returns 3.280, the same figure at three-decimal precision. The pre-filled example shows the weighting at work:
The A+ course contributes almost twice the grade points of the A- course, partly from the higher grade and partly from the extra units. A five-unit course always moves your GPA more than a one-unit course with the same grade, which is why unit counts matter as much as the letters.
Folding a new quarter into your cumulative GPA
Your cumulative GPA is the same formula stretched over every quarter: all grade points you have ever earned at Stanford, divided by all GPA-bearing units. The calculator’s optional section does that roll-in for you:
With the pre-filled numbers, a prior 3.50 over 60 units holds 210.0 grade points. Adding this quarter’s 45.80 points over 12 units gives 255.80 ÷ 72 = 3.553. One strong quarter moves a cumulative GPA slowly once many units sit behind it, and the math shows exactly how slowly.
Working backward from a target GPA
Rearrange the same formula to find the quarter GPA a target requires: required GPA = (target × total units after next quarter − prior GPA × prior units) ÷ planned units. From 3.400 over 90 units, reaching 3.500 after 15 more units takes a 4.100 quarter:
Reachable: needs 4.100 of a 4.3 maximum
That means mostly A+ grades (4.3) with the rest at A (4.0). Aim for 3.900 over the same 15 units instead and the formula asks for 6.900, which is above the scale maximum:
Not reachable in one quarter: needs 6.900, above the 4.3 ceiling
When the required figure tops 4.3, the honest options are to lower the target or spread the climb over more units. No quarter can average higher than straight A+ grades.
Which grades and courses never enter the calculation
Only A+ through NP count. Everything else on a Stanford record is excluded, replaced, or still temporary, and treating those marks wrong is the most common reason a hand-checked GPA disagrees with Axess.
| Mark or course type | GPA treatment | What to enter here |
|---|---|---|
| NP (No Pass) | Counts at 0.0, units stay in the denominator | Enter it: NP is in the grade list |
| CR, S, NC | Excluded entirely | Leave the course out |
| I (Incomplete) | Excluded until resolved; lapses to NP or NC after one year | Leave it out until the final grade posts |
| L (temporary pass) | Counted at 2.0 only until the final grade is reported | Wait for the final grade, or estimate with C |
| W (Withdraw) | Excluded | Leave the course out |
| Repeated course (RP) | Original grade replaced; the retake’s points count instead | Enter the new grade only, at the same units |
| Transfer credit from another school | Units may count toward the degree; the grade does not enter the Stanford GPA | Leave it out, and out of prior units |
| GSB course taken by a non-MBA/MSx student | Converted for your record at H 4.14, HP 3.54, P 3.24, LP 2.94, U 0.00 | Not in this tool; work it separately |
The repeat rule deserves one more sentence, because it changes old quarters retroactively: when you retake a course that is not repeatable for credit, at the same number of units, the first attempt’s grade becomes RP and stops counting once the second grade posts. Second and third attempts both count when a third attempt is allowed at all, which is only after an NC or NP on the second completion.
What competing Stanford GPA calculators get wrong
The most damaging error in this niche is the invented 4.0 cap. One widely linked Stanford calculator states that it caps the final GPA at 4.0, and another repeats the claim that Stanford’s cumulative GPA “typically does not exceed 4.0”. Stanford’s published scale has no such cap: A+ is 4.3, the registrar’s formula divides grade points by units with no truncation step, and GPAs above 4.0 are the normal result of A+ grades. A capped tool quietly steals points from exactly the students with the most A+ grades. The same tool also lists F as the failing grade, a grade Stanford does not award.
Generic GPA calculators make the mirror-image mistake: they cap A+ at 4.0 to fit the standard US scale, which is correct for most schools and wrong here. Templated per-school pages often keep semester language too, talking about credit hours and semesters at a university that runs on quarter units. The strongest competitor in this space gets the scale right and adds extras this page does not have, such as planned-course projections and CSV export. This page answers with the things that decide accuracy for a Stanford record: the registrar’s exact 13-grade scale including NP, the cumulative roll-in inside the same tool, three-decimal output, and the repeat, incomplete, and transfer rules written out with their sources.
What your Stanford GPA is used for
For undergraduates, the cumulative GPA is a progress requirement, not just a summary. Stanford’s academic progress policy requires a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA to stay in satisfactory standing and the same 2.0 minimum for conferral of the bachelor’s degree, alongside unit pace rules. Federal financial aid applies its own satisfactory academic progress test on top: a 2.00 cumulative GPA, at least 60 percent cumulative pace, and no more than 18 quarters of enrollment. Since Spring Quarter 2015-16 the GPA computed under the general grading system is published on the official undergraduate transcript; it does not appear on the graduate transcript, and Stanford does not calculate a rank in class.
Limitations of this calculator
This is an unofficial planning tool, and Calculator Zilo is not affiliated with Stanford University. Your official GPA is the one Axess and your transcript show. The tool models the general university grading system only: it has no L grade (a temporary 2.0 that is replaced when the final grade posts), no GSB H-grade values, and no repeat or transfer logic, so those cases follow the registrar rules summarized above and in the References. Grade changes, resolved incompletes, and repeat processing can all move an official figure after you calculate, so recheck against your record when it matters.
Key takeaways
- Stanford’s scale tops out at 4.3: A+ is 4.3, and a GPA can pass 4.0 with no cap.
- The failing grade is NP at 0.0, and its units stay in the denominator, so it drags hard.
- CR, S, NC, W, unresolved I, and transfer grades never enter the GPA.
- Every figure here is weighted by quarter units: grade points ÷ GPA-bearing units.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Stanford’s official grade scale assigns 4.3 points to an A+, so a GPA built from enough A+ grades rises above 4.0, up to a maximum of 4.3. Most generic calculators cap A+ at 4.0, which understates the GPA of any Stanford student with A+ grades.
Stanford runs on the quarter system, so courses are measured in quarter units rather than semester hours. A typical course carries 3 to 5 units, and the unit value printed on your record is the weight the course gets in the GPA. Enter units exactly as shown; do not convert them to semester hours first.
No. Courses graded CR, S, or NC are excluded from the GPA entirely: they add neither grade points nor GPA-bearing units. Only letter-graded courses, A+ through NP, enter the calculation, which is why the calculator lists no CR/NC option.
NP (No Pass) is the failing grade in a letter-graded course. It counts as 0.0 grade points and its units stay in the denominator, so an NP pulls your GPA down: an A in 4 units next to an NP in 4 units gives 2.000, not 4.000. NC appears only in credit/no credit courses and is excluded from the GPA completely.
Enter your prior cumulative GPA and the GPA-bearing units behind it in the optional section, then add this quarter’s courses. The calculator combines them with the weighted formula: new cumulative GPA equals (prior GPA times prior units, plus this quarter’s grade points) divided by total units. In the pre-filled example, a 3.50 over 60 units plus 45.80 new grade points gives 3.553 over 72 units.
Work backward: required quarter GPA equals (target GPA times total units after next quarter, minus prior GPA times prior units) divided by the units you plan to take. From 3.400 over 90 units, reaching 3.500 after 15 more units takes a 4.100 quarter, meaning mostly A+ and A grades. If the answer comes out above 4.3, the target cannot be reached in one quarter, so spread the climb over more units.
For a course that is not repeatable for credit, Stanford replaces the original grade with the notation RP when you retake it for the same number of units, and the second attempt’s grade points count in your cumulative GPA instead of the first. This calculator does not model repeats: to estimate the effect, leave the original attempt out and enter the new grade. A third attempt is allowed only in narrow cases, so check the repeated courses policy in the References.
Neither mark is a final grade. An L is a temporary pass that Stanford counts as 2.0 only until the final grade is reported, and an I (Incomplete) counts for nothing until the work is finished; an I left unresolved for a year converts to NP or NC. The calculator lists neither mark, so wait for the final grade, or enter C (2.0) as a rough stand-in for an L and leave an I course out entirely.
The Graduate School of Business, the School of Law, and M.D. and M.S. in PAS students in the School of Medicine grade under their own systems, so this calculator does not apply to their courses. One exception: if you are not an MBA or MSx student but take a GSB course on its grading basis, Stanford converts those marks for your record at H 4.14, HP 3.54, P 3.24, LP 2.94, and U 0.00. The calculator does not include those values, so handle a GSB course separately.
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References
- Stanford Student Services. How Do I Calculate My Grade Point Average (GPA)? The university’s 4.3 grade-point table, unit weighting, and worked examples. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Stanford University Bulletin. General University Grading Systems. Grade definitions for A+ through NP, NC, CR, S, L, I, W, and RP, transcript publication of the GPA, and the one-year incomplete rule. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Stanford Student Services. General University Grading System. Scope of the system, the schools that grade separately, and the full repeated courses policy. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Stanford University Bulletin. Graduate School of Business Grading System. The H, HP, P, LP, and U scale used in GSB courses. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Stanford University Bulletin. Undergraduate Academic Progress. The 2.0 cumulative GPA minimum for satisfactory progress and degree conferral, with unit pace requirements. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Stanford Financial Aid Office. Satisfactory Academic Progress. Federal aid conditions: 2.00 cumulative GPA, 60 percent pace, and the 18-quarter maximum. Accessed October 21, 2026.