GPA Clarity

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How GPA Clarity is tested

The calculator is designed to make its math inspectable. This page records the formulas, default assumptions, checks, limits, ownership, and review date behind the current website.

Core formulas

Course quality points = grade points × GPA units
Term GPA = term quality points ÷ term GPA units
Projected GPA = combined quality points ÷ combined GPA units

To project a cumulative GPA, GPA Clarity reconstructs existing quality points as current GPA × completed GPA units. It then adds the quality points and units from planned GPA-bearing courses. Results are displayed to three decimal places, while whole-number units are used in the planner.

Default assumptions

  • The website uses a generic 4.0 plus/minus scale: A+ and A are 4.0, A− is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, and the pattern continues to F at 0.0.
  • W, CR, and NC are excluded from GPA units in the calculator; WU is treated as 0.0.
  • The optional retake setting models full grade replacement by removing the earlier course's units and quality points before applying the new attempt.
  • The target calculator assumes the chosen future average continues across all future GPA units.
  • The final-grade tool assumes the entered current grade describes completed work and the final weight is its share of the entire course grade.

Automated and manual checks

Before a website version is released, automated checks build the production site and request the calculator, policy pages, guides, sitemap, and robots file as a browser or search crawler would. They confirm that required metadata and navigation are present, the pages return successfully, and placeholder content has not been published.

The hosted calculator's calculation core is also compared exactly with the maintained website source so one version cannot silently drift from the other. Worked examples on the guide pages are recalculated from the formulas above. Policy-specific statements are checked against links from the issuing registrar or university catalog.

What testing cannot guarantee

No automated test can infer an institution's private exception, a recently changed rule, or how a registrar will classify a particular course. GPA Clarity cannot verify transcript data entered incorrectly. For academic standing, financial aid, graduation, admission, or eligibility decisions, confirm the result with the institution.

Privacy approach

Calculator entries are processed in the browser and do not require an account. GPA Clarity does not intentionally store GPA values, course names, grades, goals, or pasted schedule text. Hosting and security providers may still process ordinary request information, and advertising technology may have separate consent requirements. The current details are maintained in the Privacy Policy.

Creator and corrections

GPA Clarity is an independently created and maintained student-planning project; it is not affiliated with a university or registrar. The public project history is available in the GPA Calculator GitHub repository. Calculation issues, policy corrections, and accessibility feedback can be sent to [email protected].

Editorial standard

Guides are written to answer a distinct student question, show the arithmetic, and name the assumption that can change the answer. University policy links are sources, not decoration. No unsourced summary—automatically generated or otherwise—is treated as an authority. Pages are reviewed for usefulness and accuracy instead of being expanded to hit a word count.

Read the GPA guides or test your own scenario in the calculator.

Written and independently checked by GPA Clarity · Last reviewed September 9, 2026