What is a Cumulative GPA (CGPA)?
While a GPA represents your average grade within a specific term or semester, a CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) is an average of your GPA grades across all the terms you have completed so far.
How to Calculate CGPA
You cannot simply take the average of all your semester GPAs unless every semester had the exact same number of credit hours. To calculate a true CGPA, you must weight the GPA of each semester by the number of credit hours attempted during that semester.
CGPA = (GPA1 * Credits1 + GPA2 * Credits2 + ...) / (Total Credits)
Why does your CGPA matter?
- Graduation Requirements: Many degrees require you to maintain a minimum CGPA to graduate (often a 2.0).
- Academic Standing: Your CGPA determines whether you are placed on the Dean's List or Academic Probation.
- Employment & Graduate School: Hiring managers for entry-level positions and graduate school committees look closely at your overall cumulative performance to gauge consistency.