Iowa State University (ISU) GPA Calculator

Iowa State grades on a twelve-step A through F letter scale — A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and F — with plus and minus grades available on B, C, and D (A only takes a minus, never a plus). See the Grade Scale Reference above for the exact quality-point value assigned to each grade.

There is no A+ grade at Iowa State. The scale's top mark is a plain A, worth 4.00 quality points, at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Your grade point average (GPA) is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points you've earned by the total number of credits you've attempted, using the grades and quality points earned in courses taken at Iowa State.

Not every mark on an Iowa State transcript affects your GPA. Grades of S (Satisfactory), P (Pass), NP (Not Pass), and T (credit by special examination) are never counted in the grade point average, even though the credits may still count toward your degree. W (officially dropped after the first week), N (no grade report submitted — automatically becomes an F after one year or at graduation), and I (Incomplete, until it's resolved to an actual letter grade) also carry no GPA value of their own.

Repeating a course. If you retake a course at Iowa State, your most recent attempt is the one used in your cumulative GPA, not the earlier one — up to a lifetime limit of 18 credits' worth of these replacements. Past that 18-credit limit, every additional attempt counts in your GPA rather than only the latest one. Every attempt stays on your permanent record regardless. If you repeat an Iowa State course at a different institution instead, the outside grade does not replace your Iowa State grade in your Iowa State GPA — though it may still satisfy a graduation requirement.

A cumulative grade point average of 2.00 is required to earn a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University.

Iowa State recognizes strong academic performance in several ways. Each semester, the Dean's List is made up of students who carried at least 12 graded or Satisfactory-Fail credit hours with a 3.50 semester GPA or higher; the President's List requires at least 24 such credit hours across your two most recent semesters with a 4.00 GPA. Neither list is issued for summer session, and Pass-Not Pass credits don't count toward either credit-hour minimum.

Undergraduates who finish with a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher (on the 4.0 scale) may graduate "with distinction," provided they completed at least 60 semester credits at Iowa State, including a minimum of 50 graded or Satisfactory-Fail credits. The distinction itself is tiered by final cumulative GPA: Cum Laude for 3.50–3.69, Magna Cum Laude for 3.70–3.89, and Summa Cum Laude for 3.90 or higher — and it appears on your official transcript and diploma. Full members of the University Honors Program separately need a 3.50 cumulative GPA at the start of their final term, on top of completing an approved honors program of study and project.

If you took courses Pass-Not Pass at another institution and transfer them to Iowa State, they can be applied as electives in your degree program, as long as the credits are otherwise acceptable. How many of those transferred P-NP credits Iowa State accepts depends on how many your previous institution itself allowed under its own P-NP policy. Iowa State also caps your total Pass-Not Pass credit at 9 semester hours — if you transfer in more than nine P-NP credits, no additional Iowa State courses can be taken P-NP.