Latin honors
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Southeastern Asian countries with European colonial history, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and African countries such as Zambia and South Africa, 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. In countries that use Latin honors, they are normally awarded to undergraduate students earning bachelor's degrees and to law school graduates. They are not usually used for graduate students receiving master's or doctorate degrees.
The Latin honors system has three standard levels : cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. The regulations of each college or university normally set out criteria that a student must meet in order to obtain a given honor. For example, the student might be required to achieve a specific class ranking, a specific grade point average, submit an honors thesis for evaluation, or be part of an honors program. Each school sets its own standards. Because these standards vary, the same level of Latin honors conferred by different institutions can represent different levels of achievement. Some institutions use non-Latin equivalents, while certain other institutions do not use honors at all, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale Law School, and Stanford Law School.
English-speaking countries
United States
Distinctions
Most American colleges and universities use Latin honors for bachelor's degrees and for the Juris Doctor degree, but not for other degrees such as master's degrees or the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees. There are three standard levels of Latin honors:- cum laude, meaning "with praise", typically awarded to graduates in the top 20%, 25%, or 33% of their class, depending on the institution.
- magna cum laude, meaning "with great praise", typically awarded to graduates in the top 5%, 10%, or 15% of their class, depending on the institution.
- , meaning "with highest praise", typically awarded to graduates in the top 1%, 2%, or 5% of their class, depending on the institution. Some institutions do not award the summa cum laude distinction or award, others choosing to award it only in extraordinary circumstances.
History
United Kingdom
In the UK, the Latin cum laude is used in commemorative Latin versions of degree certificates sold by a few universities to denote a bachelor's degree with honours, but the honours 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 Israel, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, one university in Singapore 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, Uganda, 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 >77%
- summa cum laude >85%
- summa cum laude with the congratulations of the examination committee >90%
Brazil
Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, universities usually award the summa cum laude distinction to its best graduates in bachelors and masters study programmes. The criteria required by Czech universities are usually the following: a) an overall study results average up to 1.5 out of 4.0 completion of the final state exam with the overall classification of 1 proper completion of studies in a period not exceeding the standard period of study by more than one year. Other distinctions such as magna cum laude or cum laude are not used. Alternatively, the phrase s vyznamenáním, which means "with honours", is substituted for the usual summa cum laude. The Czech universities usually do not award any Latin honours to its graduates in rigorosum and doctoral study programmes.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 mention très bien, mention bien, and mention assez bien 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. From 2016, honorifics ceased to be used for the completion of a PhD. Before this date, the French PhD diploma could be awarded with increasing honors: mention bien, mention très honorable, mention très honorable avec félicitations du jury. While these honors grades have been revoked for the PhD diploma, they are still in use for doctors of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dental Medicine.Germany
In Germany, the range of degrees is:- sub omni canone
- non sufficit or non rite
- rite
- satis bene – or no additional comment
- cum laude
- magna cum laude
- summa cum laude.
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.Indonesia
Latin honors are used widely in Indonesia, the order of increment are:- cum laude, meaning "with honors" — GPA 3.51 - 3.59
- magna cum laude, meaning "with great honors" — 3.60 - 3.79
- summa cum laude, meaning "with highest honors" — GPA 3.80 and above
A less commonly used grade, maxima cum laude, or 'with very great honors', is an intermediate order between summa and magna. This distinction is sometimes used when the university regulation for summa is only awarded to students with perfect academic grades.