Tulane University GPA Calculator

Tulane's Grade Scale: Three Decimals, No A+

Tulane's undergraduate scale runs from A (4.000) to F, and the plus and minus grades are recorded to three decimal places: an A- is 3.667 and a B+ is 3.333. There is no A+, so a Tulane GPA tops out at 4.000.

Grades such as S, U, P, CR, NC, W, WP, WF, UW, I, IP, AU and R carry no quality points and are left out of the GPA, which Tulane computes only on undergraduate coursework attempted at Tulane.

The A- Trap on the Dean's List

Newcomb-Tulane College's Dean's List requires a semester GPA of 3.700 or better, full-time enrollment, and no grade below a C that semester (S/U courses excepted). Since an A- is worth 3.667, a semester of straight A-'s falls just short of the 3.700 line. You need at least some full A's to make it.

For example, in a 15-credit semester with three 3-credit courses at A- and two at A, you have (9 × 3.667) + (6 × 4.000) = 57.003 quality points ÷ 15 = 3.800, which is on the list. With four A-'s and one A, you get 3.734, still enough. With five A-'s, you get 3.667, which is not.

Students with incomplete or missing grades are not listed until all their grades are in.

Repeating a Course: The Second Grade Counts, Even if It's Lower

At Newcomb-Tulane College you can repeat a course only if you earned a D+ or lower. When you do, only the second grade counts in your GPA, whether it is higher or lower than the first. The rules:

• no more than one repeated course per semester;
• you must carry a full load of at least 12 new credit hours in addition to the repeat;
• if the original grade resulted from academic misconduct, both grades count.

Because a lower second grade replaces the first, a retake is a real risk. Estimate your likely second grade before registering, and use the calculator to compare the outcomes.

Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory (S/U) Grades

You may take one course per semester S/U, and no more than 10 credits of S/U work can count toward your degree. Work at the C- level or better earns an S. S/U cannot be used for Core Curriculum, major or minor requirements, and S/U grades do not affect your GPA.

Incompletes Become F's Quickly

An incomplete must be resolved within 30 days of the end of the semester, or it changes to an F, which counts in your GPA as 0.000. Extensions require written approval from both the instructor and an assistant dean before the 30 days are up. That is far shorter than the one-year window at many universities.

Latin Honors: Top 25 Percent

Latin honors at Newcomb-Tulane College depend on GPA alone and go to the top quarter of the class:

The thresholds are recalculated each year from the GPAs of May graduates and posted by July 1 for the following year. As the table shows, they are high, so a single B+ can matter for magna or summa.

Academic Good Standing, Probation and Dismissal

The minimum cumulative GPA for good standing rises as you earn hours:

Students below the minimum are placed on probation. They must reach the minimum within the next term, on the next 12 hours completed, and they register for 14–16 hours with adviser approval. Two consecutive semesters on probation without returning to good standing leads to academic dismissal. A dismissed student can appeal within 15 days, or apply to the NTC Dean for readmission after at least one semester away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Tulane University Catalog, Newcomb-Tulane College; Tulane Registrar, Transcript Key; Newcomb-Tulane College, Academic Distinctions; NTC Student Success, Quality of Work Requirements. Policies change, so check the current catalog. This site is independent and not affiliated with Tulane University.