Cum laude is Latin for "with honor" literally "with praise" and serves as a way to distinguish students with exemplary academic success. Schools confer honors in a variety of ways and there is no standardized set of criteria. Most colleges award three tiers of honors cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude based on the college's own unique requirements. The determining factor is usually GPA, but college prerequisites for graduating with honors may also include completion of an honors thesis or early graduation. With the exception of law students, Latin honors are almost always given to students earning bachelor degrees. High schools traditionally recognize the highest grade in the class with the honor of valedictorian, although there is a trend towards recognizing multiple top students—including classes with dozens of valedictorians.

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What does it mean to graduate with honors?
Nearly half of students who graduated from Lehigh University, Princeton University and the University of Southern California this year did so with cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors, or their equivalents. Anyone with a grade-point average of at least 3. You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call Customer Service. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search.
Magna, Summa, and the Honor Roll
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This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. To learn more visit our Privacy Policy. Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. Create your resume now. Sample resume made with our builder— See more templates and create your resume here. Your resume is supposed to wow the recruiter. But according to this NACE study , your educational achievements will not impress them as much as your previous experience. Putting your academic honors and awards on a resume makes sense when preparing your first resume with no experience , making a student resume , or a recent graduate resume. There are certain jobs where a strong academic background is prerequisite.