Calculate your University of Tennessee, Knoxville GPA on the real plus/minus scale (A down to D-, no A+), then see your academic standing, your Latin honors by catalog year, and whether you are on track to keep the HOPE / TELS scholarship.
Your UTK GPA
Fill at least one grade and credit-hour value to see your GPA.
Built on UTK's A-to-D- plus/minus scale (4.0, no A+). Source: UTK One Stop / University Registrar.
UTK runs a standard 4.0 plus/minus scale, but with no A+ - so 4.00 is the ceiling. Here is where any cumulative GPA lands for standing and graduation honors (2022-23 catalog and later).
Tip: enter your grades above and this jumps to your number.
The bar runs the full 0 to 4.00 scale. A 2.00 cumulative keeps you in good standing and is the graduation minimum; Latin honors start at 3.50.
The minimum cumulative GPA for good standing and to graduate. Below it puts you on academic probation.
3.50 to 3.69 cumulative (2022-23 catalog or later) graduates with honors. Also the Dean's List floor for a single term.
A 3.70 to 3.89 cumulative GPA earns Magna Cum Laude under the current catalog.
3.90 to 4.00 cumulative earns Summa, UTK's highest graduation distinction.
Enter your courses above and the planner finds the single course where one realistic grade step moves your GPA the most - then weigh it against UTK's grade-replacement cap.
Once you enter a few courses, this finds the class where one realistic grade improvement would lift your GPA the most.
A heavy course one letter below its ceiling is usually the biggest single lever.
A 4-hour course moves your GPA far more than a 1-hour lab. Defend the big courses first.
You can replace a C- or lower in up to 3 courses (max 13 hours) for your whole degree. Spend those swaps on heavy courses with the lowest grades.
Grade replacement fixes your institutional GPA, but the HOPE/TELS GPA still averages both attempts unless you use your one-time TELS repeat.
UTK repeat rule: you can retake any course where you earned a C- or lower, up to two times (three attempts total). Earn a C or higher and you cannot repeat it for credit. Past the 3-course / 13-hour replacement cap, both attempts get averaged into your cumulative GPA.
Tennessee's HOPE (TELS) scholarship is checked at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 attempted hours - and the TELS GPA is not the same as your UTK GPA. Enter your numbers to see where you stand at the next checkpoint.
Enter your numbers above.
The TELS GPA leaves out AP/IB and dual-enrollment hours from high school, and by default averages every repeat. Your transcript GPA can be higher than your TELS GPA.
The current undergraduate scale (Fall 2006 onward). There is no A+, and graduate courses do not use C-, D+, or D-.
| Grade | Quality points | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | Superior |
| A- | 3.7 | Intermediate |
| B+ | 3.3 | Very good |
| B | 3.0 | Good |
| B- | 2.7 | Intermediate |
| C+ | 2.3 | Fair |
| C | 2.0 | Satisfactory |
| C- | 1.7 | Below satisfactory |
| D+ | 1.3 | Poor |
| D | 1.0 | Poor |
| D- | 0.7 | Lowest passing |
| F | 0.0 | Failure |
Graduate courses (500-699) award only A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, and F. Source: UTK One Stop and the University Catalog.
A big source of self-calculated GPA errors at UTK is counting non-calculable marks. The calculator above ignores them; here is the map:
| Mark | In your GPA? | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| W / WP | No | Withdrew after the add/drop period. Non-punitive - no quality points, no GPA hours. You get six career W drops. |
| S / NC | No | Satisfactory / No Credit (pass-fail). "S" means C or higher (B or higher for graduates) and is excluded from the GPA. |
| P / NP | No | Pass / No Pass or progress, mostly for thesis and dissertation work. No quality points. |
| I (Incomplete) | Not yet | Temporary and excluded - but it turns into an F (or NC) if not resolved within one calendar year or before you graduate. |
| N-prefix (ND, NF...) | No | The ABC/N scale for English 101/102 and some sequences. Below a C is recorded as non-punitive "No Credit" - you retake, but your GPA is protected. |
WF (Withdrew Failing) was discontinued as a failing grade in Fall 2008 and carries no weight in active GPAs. Confirm any unusual notation with the University Registrar.
UTK raised its honors thresholds starting with the 2022-23 catalog. Which set applies to you depends on your catalog year, not your graduation year.
| Distinction | 2021-22 catalog & earlier | 2022-23 catalog & later |
|---|---|---|
| Cum Laude | 3.50 - 3.64 | 3.50 - 3.69 |
| Magna Cum Laude | 3.65 - 3.79 | 3.70 - 3.89 |
| Summa Cum Laude | 3.80 - 4.00 | 3.90 - 4.00 |
Dean's List: at least 12 graded hours in a term (excluding S/NC) and a term GPA of 3.50 or higher. The honors shown in the commencement program use the GPA from the term before graduation; official honors use the final cumulative GPA. Source: UTK Undergraduate Catalog.
Academic standing: good standing needs a 2.00 cumulative GPA. You go on probation if your cumulative GPA drops below 2.00 (or your term GPA is below 2.00 for two terms in a row), and face dismissal if a probation term ends with both cumulative and term GPA below 2.00.
It is a credit-hour-weighted average. Multiply each grade's quality points by the course's credit hours, add them up, and divide by the total graded hours.
GPA = total (credit hours × quality points) ÷ total graded hours
W, S, NC, P, and unresolved Incompletes are left out of both the top and the bottom of that fraction. For financial aid, UTK also tracks a separate SAP completion ratio (completed ÷ attempted hours) that must stay at 0.67 or higher - and a C- or D still counts as "completed" there, even if your major makes you retake it.
| Course | Grade | Points | Hours | Weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 102 | A- | 3.7 | 3 | 11.1 |
| MATH 141 | B+ | 3.3 | 4 | 13.2 |
| BIOL 150 | B | 3.0 | 4 | 12.0 |
| HIST 221 | A | 4.0 | 3 | 12.0 |
| Total | - | - | 14 | 48.3 → 3.45 |
48.3 quality points ÷ 14 graded hours = 3.45 - just short of the 3.50 Cum Laude line. Source: UTK One Stop.
The scale, honors brackets, repeat policy, and HOPE/TELS rules are taken from UTK's own registrar and catalog plus the state TSAC scholarship rules - not aggregator sites. We are not affiliated with the university; confirm anything unusual with One Stop.
A UTK or TELS rule changed or a number looks off? Tell us and we'll re-check it against the source. More on how we research every page is in our methodology.
No. The highest grade at UTK is a straight A, worth 4.0 quality points - there is no A+ that exceeds 4.0. The plus/minus scale runs A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, so the most a course can contribute is 4.0 per credit hour.
Your TELS GPA must be at least 2.75 at the 24- and 48-hour checkpoints, and 3.00 at 72, 96, and 120 attempted hours. If you fall into the 2.75-2.99 band at a 3.00 checkpoint, you can keep HOPE on provisional status by earning a 3.00 in your most recent term and staying at 12+ hours. The TELS GPA is not your transcript GPA - it excludes AP/IB and dual-enrollment hours and averages repeats.
2.00 keeps you in good standing and is the graduation minimum, and a 3.00+ is solid. Latin honors begin at 3.50 (Cum Laude), with Magna at 3.70 and Summa at 3.90 under the 2022-23 catalog or later. A GPA of 3.5 or higher also makes the Dean's List for that term.
You can repeat any course where you earned a C- or lower, up to two times (three attempts). Across your whole degree you can apply grade replacement to at most three courses and 13 credit hours - when you do, only the highest attempt counts in your cumulative GPA, though the old grade stays on the transcript with a repeat asterisk. Beyond that cap, all attempts are averaged.
It depends. A W is non-punitive (no GPA hit) but can drop you below 12 hours, which can immediately cost you the HOPE scholarship and other aid, and it uses one of your six career W drops. An F keeps you enrolled and full-time, and grade replacement can later erase it from your institutional GPA - but the F still averages into your TELS GPA unless you use your one-time TELS repeat.
C-, D+, D, and D- all carry quality points (1.7 down to 0.7) and count in your GPA, even though many majors require a C or better and will make you retake the course. S/NC pass-fail grades, W, P, and unresolved Incompletes do not count in the GPA - but a C- or D still counts as "completed" for financial-aid satisfactory progress.
No. It's a free planning estimate built on UTK's published scale and rules. Your official GPA and scholarship standing live in MyUTK and One Stop. Differences usually come from repeats, special grade modes, or rounding the calculator can't see.
Reviewed against official UTK grading, honors, and TELS scholarship policies. Maintained by KnowMyGPA · Last updated June 2026 · Methodology