What letter grade is a 4.0 GPA?
An A, and on a scale topped at 4.0, an A in every class. At 978 of the 981 verified scales an A is worth exactly 4.0 grade points, and at 91 of them an A+ is also 4.0. The exceptions: at MIT a 4 is a B, at Michigan State 4.0 is the top numeric grade, and Bristol Community College prints no grade points.
Like any GPA, a 4.0 has no built-in percentage, and 887 of the 981 scales print none: convert a GPA on your school’s scale; the other letters sit in the full GPA scale chart.
| Grade at 4.0 points | Scales |
|---|---|
| A | 978 |
| A+ as well as A | 91 of the 978 |
| B (MIT’s 5.0 scale) | 1 |
| Top numeric grade (Michigan State) | 1 |
| Bristol Community College, which publishes no grade points | 1 |
Why a 4.0 is a single grade
On a scale whose top grade is 4.0, which is 965 of the 981, a 4.0 means 4.0 points in every graded credit. Nothing can make up for a lower grade. One A− of 3.7 in four equal courses leaves the average at 3.925, and one B in its place leaves 3.75.
The 14 scales that price an A+ above 4.0 work differently. There an A+ of 4.33 and an A− of 3.67 in equal credits average 4.0, so a 4.0 need not be all A’s. Arizona State, one of the fourteen, caps the cumulative GPA at 4.00 regardless.
Is a 4.0 GPA good?
A good GPA has no official definition, so a 4.0 is best read through comparisons that can be checked. The dated national average comes from high school transcripts: an unweighted 3.11 for 2019 graduates in the NAEP High School Transcript Study, and a 4.0 is 0.89 above that. No official national college average is in hand to set it against.
Every named threshold in the table below is at or under 4.0, so a 4.0 meets each GPA requirement, on the publishing body’s own calculation. That includes OPM’s GPA route to GS-7 Superior Academic Achievement, overall and in the major, and Arizona State’s summa cum laude band of 3.80 to 4.00. At Maryland it meets the “at least a 3.9” route to Latin honors, given 60 semester hours there. Meeting a GPA minimum is not the same as meeting the rule: Zell Miller, for one, also asks for a test score.
| Honor or minimum | Body | Threshold | What a 4.0 does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summa cum laude, bachelor’s | Arizona State University | 3.80 to 4.00 | Inside the band |
| Latin honors, GPA route | University of Maryland | At least a 3.9, with 60 semester hours there | Meets the GPA route; the level follows the college’s percentiles |
| Zell Miller Scholarship (high school) | Georgia Student Finance Commission | 3.7 | Meets the GPA minimum; a test score is also required |
| GS-7 Superior Academic Achievement, major field | OPM | 3.5 | Meets the GPA route |
| Florida Academic Scholars, Bright Futures (high school) | Florida Department of Education | 3.50, weighted | Meets it on the weighted Bright Futures GPA |
| Nonresident freshmen (high school) | University of California | 3.4 | Meets the GPA minimum |
Sources: National Assessment Governing Board, release on the 2019 High School Transcript Study (the 3.11) · NCES, How is Grade Point Average Calculated? (the study’s unweighted four-point scale) (archived copy) · Arizona State University Catalog, Graduation with academic recognition · University of Maryland, Academic Records and Regulations · Georgia Student Finance Commission, Zell Miller Scholarship eligibility · OPM, General Schedule Qualification Policies · Florida Bright Futures Student Handbook, chapter 1 (archived copy) · University of California, GPA requirement.
Weighted and unweighted 4.0 GPAs
A weighted 4.0 is not necessarily an A average. Under Howard County, Maryland’s rule an A is 4.0 in a regular course, 4.5 in honors and 5.0 in AP, and a B in AP is also 4.0, so B’s in AP alongside regular A’s add up to a weighted 4.0. Tennessee’s uniform grading system, by contrast, allows no grade point above 4.0 at all. Read a weighted 4.0 on its school’s own rule; the weighted high school GPA page covers the named rules.
Sources: Howard County Public Schools, Policy 8020 · Tennessee State Board of Education, Uniform Grading Policy (archived copy).
What grades add up to a 4.0 GPA?
Only top grades, on a scale whose top grade is 4.0: every credit in the sum must carry 4.0 points. What the formula does show is how much a single lower grade costs, and that depends on how many credits sit beside it.
Take one 3-credit B. Among 15 credits, with A’s in the other 12, it gives 57 ÷ 15 = 3.80. Among 60 credits the same B leaves 3.95, and among 120 credits 3.975. The dent shrinks as credits pile up, yet on such a scale no number of later A’s brings the average back to exactly 4.0. To try your own credits, work out your own GPA.
12 credits of A and 3 of B: (12 × 4 + 3 × 3) ÷ 15 = 3.80
Is 4.0 the highest GPA?
At 965 of the 981 verified scales, yes: no grade is worth more than 4.0. The University of Wisconsin–Madison puts it plainly: “The highest possible GPA is 4.0, representing A grades in every course.” The exceptions are 14 institutions that price an A+ above 4.0, at 4.3 (Cornell, Stanford and the University of Oregon among them) or 4.33 (Arizona State, Caltech and Iowa among them), and MIT, which grades on a 5.0 scale where an A is 5.
Whether the GPA itself can pass 4.0 is a separate rule. Arizona State states: “Although the plus/minus scale includes a grade of A+ with a value of 4.33, the cumulative GPA is capped at 4.00.” Stanford says: “The university uses a 4.3 scale.” For the other 12, GPAWise’s verified record holds the grade values only, not a rule on the cumulative GPA.
High schools add a second route past 4.0, weighting. White Plains High School gives an A+ 4.5 even in an unweighted course and multiplies weighted courses by 1.3. See the weighted high school GPA rules, or convert a GPA from another scale.
Sources: University of Wisconsin–Madison Guide, Undergraduate · Arizona State University Registrar, Grades · Stanford Student Services, How do I calculate my GPA? · White Plains High School, GPA calculator.