Extra Credit Calculator

Extra credit increases the points you've earned without increasing the total points possible, which raises your percentage grade. For example, if you earned 420 out of 500 points (84%), adding 10 extra credit points brings you to 430/500 = 86%. Even a small number of extra credit points can push you across a letter grade threshold.

It depends on your instructor's policy, which is typically stated in the syllabus. The most common method adds extra credit to your numerator (points earned), keeping the denominator the same. Some instructors instead reduce the total points possible (denominator), which has an even larger effect on your grade. When in doubt, ask your professor.

Divide your total points earned (including extra credit) by the total points possible, then multiply by 100. For example: (420 earned + 10 extra credit) ÷ 500 possible × 100 = 86.00%. This calculator does that math automatically and also shows your letter grade.

Enter your current points, total points possible, and set your target grade to 90% (or 93% for an A) in the Target Grade field. The calculator will tell you exactly how many extra credit points you need to reach that goal.

Standard letter grade cutoffs are: A+ (97–100%), A (93–96%), A- (90–92%), B+ (87–89%), B (83–86%), B- (80–82%), C+ (77–79%), C (73–76%), C- (70–72%), D+ (67–69%), D (63–66%), D- (60–62%), and F (below 60%). Note that some schools and courses use different scales.

Yes, it's possible depending on how many extra credit points are offered and how close you are to the next letter grade threshold. If you're at 79% (C+), you only need 4 more percentage points to reach a B- at 83%. Whether that's achievable depends on the extra credit available in your course.

For weighted category courses, convert your category scores to a final percentage first, then treat that as your 'current points' out of 100 total possible points. Enter the extra credit as the percentage points it adds to your final grade. Check with your instructor to confirm how extra credit applies across weighted categories.

Extra credit raises the course grade it's applied to, and that higher grade is what gets reported to your GPA. It does not add extra credit hours to your GPA calculation. So if extra credit bumps your grade from a B to an A, your GPA reflects the A for that course.