Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. This system is primarily used in the United States and Canada. It is also used in some Southeastern Asian countries with European colonial history, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, although sometimes translations of these phrases are used instead of the Latin originals. The honors distinction should not be confused with the honors degrees offered in some countries, or with honorary degrees.
The system usually has three levels of honor: cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. Generally, a college or university's regulations set out definite criteria a student must meet to obtain a given honor. For example, the student might be required to achieve a specific grade point average, submit an honors thesis for evaluation, be part of an honors program, or graduate early. Each university sets its own standards. Since these standards vary, the same level of Latin honors conferred by different institutions can represent different levels of achievement. Similarly, some institutions grant equivalent non-Latin honors to undergraduates. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, for example, has a series of plain English grading honors based on class standing.
These honors, when they are used, are almost always awarded to undergraduates earning their bachelor's, and, with the exception of law school graduates, much more rarely to graduate students receiving their master's or doctorate degree. The honor is typically indicated on the diploma. Latin honors are often conferred upon law school students graduating as a Juris Doctor or J.D., in which case they are generally based upon class rank or grade point average.
English-speaking countries
North America
Distinctions
In North America, Latin honors are frequently used by colleges and universities for undergraduate degrees and for the Juris Doctor law degree. They are generally not used for any other degrees, such as master's degrees or the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees. Most institutions use two or three levels of Latin honors, listed below in ascending order:- ', meaning "with praise". This honor is typically awarded to graduates in the top 20%, top 25%, or top 30% of their class, depending on the institution.
- ', meaning "with great praise". This honor is typically awarded to graduates in the top 10% or top 15% of their class, depending on the institution.
- ', meaning "with highest praise". This honor is typically awarded to graduates in the top 1%, top 2%, or top 5% of their class, depending on the institution. Some institutions do not award the summa cum laude distinction or only award it in rare circumstances.
History
In 1869, Harvard College became the first college in the United States to award final honors to its graduates. From 1872 to 1879, cum laude and summa cum laude were the two Latin honors awarded to graduates. Beginning in 1880, magna cum laude was also awarded:In his 1895 history of Amherst College, college historian William Seymour Tyler traced Amherst's system of Latin honors to 1881, and attributed it to Amherst College President Julius Hawley Seelye:
United Kingdom
In the UK the Latin cum laude is used in commemorative Latin versions of degree certificates conferred by a few universities to denote a bachelor's degree with Honours, but the honors classification is stated as in English, e.g. Primi Ordinis for First Class rather than summa cum laude, etc. Official degree certificates use English.Other countries
For undergraduate degrees, Latin honors are used in only a few countries such as the United States, Israel, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Canada. Most countries use a different scheme, such as the British undergraduate degree classification which is more widely used with varying criteria and nomenclature depending on country, including Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and many other countries. Malta shows the Latin honors on the degree certificates, but the UK model is shown on the transcript.Austria
In Austria, the only Latin honor in use is sub auspiciis Praesidentis rei publicae for doctoral degrees. Candidates must have consistently excellent grades throughout high school and university, making it very difficult to attain: only about 20 out of a total of 2,500 doctoral graduates per year achieve a sub auspiciis degree.Belgium
In Belgium, the university degree awarded is limited to:- cum fructu <68%
- cum laude >68%
- magna cum laude >75%
- summa cum laude >82,5%
Brazil
Estonia
In Estonia, up until 2010 both summa cum laude and cum laude were used. Summa cum laude was awarded only for very exceptional work. Since 1 September 2010, only cum laude is used. It is awarded to bachelors, masters and integrated studies graduates. Occasionally the word kiitusega, which means "with praise", is substituted for the usual cum laude. To receive cum laude one must achieve a 4.60 GPA and receive the highest grade for the thesis or the final examination.Finland
The Finnish Matriculation Examinations at the end of lukio/gymnasium uses the grades of:improbatur, approbatur lubenter approbatur, cum laude approbatur, magna cum laude approbatur, eximia cum laude approbatur and laudatur. They are roughly equivalent to Finnish school grades ranging from 4 to 10. Some Finnish universities, when grading master's theses and doctoral dissertations, use the same scale with the additional grade of non sine laude approbatur between lubenter and cum laude; technical universities use a numerical scale instead.
France
In France, usually the French honors très honorable avec félicitations du jury, très honorable and honorable are used. However some Grandes Écoles, like the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, HEC Paris, use the Latin and English titles "summa cum laude" / "graduated with highest honors" for the top 2% and "cum laude" / "graduated with honors" for the next 5% of a year. Since 2016, honorifics ceased to be used for the completion of a PhD.Germany
In Germany, the range of degrees is: rite, cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. These degrees are mostly used when a doctorate is conferred, not for diplomas, bachelor's or master's degrees, for which numerical grades between 1.0 and 4.0, and 5.0, are given.Hungary
In Hungary, the range of degrees — similar to the German system — is: rite, cum laude, summa cum laude. These degrees are used in university diplomas and in certain fields of sciences only. The grades of degrees are dependent on the received average points from final exams and from average points from the university studies.Italy
In Italy, the cum laude notation is used as an increasing level of the highest grade for both exams and degrees, in all its levels;Passing an exam cum laude has usually only an honorific meaning, but sometimes it influences the average grade and can be useful to the student so honored.
"30 e lode" is usually awarded after answering correctly a bonus difficult question at the oral examination.
In Italy "110 e lode" is the highest rank that can be achieved during the academic studies, and corresponds usually to a final score greater or equal to 112/110. Up to 3 bonus points can be awarded for merits, e.g. having an average exams score greater than 28.5/30, excellent final project or for graduating on time.
More notations include : bacio e abbraccio accademico menzione d'onore and dignità di stampa, and were given based on various University-specific requirements, but without a legal value.
Malta
In Malta, for Bachelor Honours degrees Summa Cum Laude refers to First Class Honours, Magna Cum Laude refers to Second Class Honours, Cum Laude refers to Second Class Honours whilst Bene Probatus refers to Third Class Honours. Professional degrees lasting longer than the standard 3 years such as the 5 year Bachelor of Pharmacy are awarded Egregia Cum Laude. Postgraduate Diplomas and master's degrees may be awarded as Pass with Distinction, Pass with Merit or Pass.Mexico
In Mexico, cum laude is used, by the major universities, to recognize an outstanding dissertation for bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees. Also different awards on public and private universities are given to the student with the highest final grade average and a diploma is given as a form of cum laude.Netherlands
In the Netherlands, both for bachelor's and master's programs, two classes of honors may be used: cum laude and summa cum laude. Typically it is reserved to mark exceptional achievement. It depends on an absolute minimum grade point average. Sometimes it is lost, despite a high average mark, when the student gets a mark of 6 or lower for one of the many exams. It may also be awarded based on the weighted average of first achieved grades for each subject only. Generally, less than 2% receive the cum laude distinction. It is also possible to receive a PhD degree cum laude, although this honor is even rarer than for master's graduates. In view of the difficulty and subjectivity of determining this, some universities and fields of study very seldom award doctorates cum laude. At Dutch University Colleges, cum laude, magna cum laude and, exceptionally, summa cum laude may be used.Philippines
, Junior High School - Senior High School Students under the new K–12 Curriculum an honor system using Filipino translations of the Latin original. Students who achieve a final grade average of 90-94 are awarded the title "May Karangalan" and will receive a bronze medal with the DepEd seal.Those who have a final grade average of 95-97 receive the title of "May Mataas na Karangalan" and a silver medal with the same seal. Students with a final grade average of 98-100 shall be awarded the title of "May Pinakamataas na Karangalan" and a gold medal with the same specification. In College, students are referred to as: Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude, respectively.Russia
In Russia, the honor system is based on the grade point averages. At least 4.75 out of 5.0 points are required for the summa cum laude degree. The graduate has to receive a perfect grade on all final examinations. Usually less than 2% of all graduating students accomplish this. In military schools, a "red diploma" may be accompanied by a gold medal for outstanding performance. Russian high schools also award a gold medal to the student who achieves a perfect score in all final examinations and in all other subjects not requiring a final exam. A silver medal is awarded to high school students who have one or two grades of 4 on their final exams or other subjects as listed in the high school diploma.Singapore
In Singapore, the Latin honors, cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude are used by Singapore Management University. Graduates from Singapore Management University have to achieve GPAs of 3.4, 3.6 and 3.8 out of 4.0 respectively and without any exceptions to qualify for the Latin honors.It is also used by Yale-NUS College, with the top 5% of a graduating class receiving summa cum laude, the next 10% magna cum laude, and the next 20% cum laude. There are no CAP requirements to achieve the Latin honors at Yale-NUS College.