Almost everybody thinks it’s impressive when someone graduates summa cum laude or magna cum laude. Just plain “cum laude” sounds great too. Even those who never set foot inside any halls of higher learning are aware of high achievers who earned these academic honors — whether it’s someone they know personally or a celebrity brainiac they hear about in a biographical profile.
But how many people know what summa cum laude or magna cum laude actually mean? And what’s the difference between summa and magna? What might sound like all Greek to the uninitiated — including top students at colleges where these distinctions don’t exist — is, in fact, Latin lingo. And if all the different Google keyword search configurations are any indication, Latin-English dictionaries are not a common household item these days.
So we’re here to demystify this ever-popular subject for those who are unfamiliar. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s start with the easy part. You’ll likely be amazed at the lack of mystique when it comes to deciphering the meaning of cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. With that comes their automatic ranking by three levels of high academic achievement. We’re even providing the phonetic pronunciation in each case!
It's all about the comparatives and superlatives.
| Latin Honor | Meaning |
|
cum laude kuːm ˈlaʊdeɪ |
with honor (praise or distinction) |
|
magna cum laude mæɡnə kuːm ˈlaʊdeɪ |
with great honor (praise or distinction) |
|
summa cum laude ˈsuːmə kuːm ˈlaʊdeɪ |
with the highest honor (praise or distinction) |
The English word “laudatory” is derived from the Latin “laude, meaning “honor” or “praise.” An easy way to remember that summa is the top Latin award is to think of the summit (pinnacle or peak) of a mountain. And magna can be associated with middle magnitude.
We’ll have more to say shortly about the less straightforward matter of qualifying criteria for cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. But for now, just think in relative terms: students are granted these honors based on where they rank against other students in the same school, or even within the same department.
Cum laude may be conferred on students who have earned a certain GPA or class rank, but not as high as those qualifying for magna cum laude. Students in the middle category, in turn, have earned high grades or some other achievement, but not the highest possible. And summa cum laude is reserved for students worthy of the top prize.
Different versions of the tri-level Latin honors system are most commonly implemented for undergraduate degrees at colleges and universities, primarily in the United States. Some U.S. high schools also award cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude.
Elsewhere, there are applications in a handful of countries, notably Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Although some Canadian institutions have adopted the Latin honors scheme, variations of the UK undergraduate grading classification model, using English terminology, are more widely used. The same goes for Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Canada, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and many other countries.
There are also instances where students receive a degree certificate showing their Latin award status, while a UK equivalent appears on their transcript.
Harvard University is credited with inaugurating the cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude awards back in 1866. Interestingly, some modern-day detractors at Harvard have proposed eliminating the Latin honors system, contending that its current application can actually deter students from academic excellence rather than the other way around. Yet, there is no indication that the status quo at Harvard will change.
Now it becomes tricky to explain with any precision what cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude mean. That’s because they mean different things to different schools in different places. There are no uniform criteria to qualify for Latin honors. It’s up to individual schools to use their own metrics, and so there are vastly wide discrepancies. It’s not uncommon for individual departments within the same university to apply different qualifying criteria, sometimes reflecting course difficulty. GPA-based determinations may be on an overall average or program major basis.
This can even vary depending on the achievements of the graduating class, so be careful not to be too judgmental if someone has summa from one university and another candidate has magna from another. If you really want to dig deeper, there are details on university websites. Information about qualifying honors criteria — Latin or other systems — is typically posted on individual college websites. It may be found in a section devoted to graduation or commencement policies.
Just to give you a general idea, below is merely an average of the GPA requirement, on a 4.0 scale, for each Latin honors category:
Here are examples of GPA-based levels for three institutions:
University of Florida College of Pharmacy
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington School of Social Work
The differences here are clear, but if you are seeking to attract graduates from certain degree programmes, you should quickly gain an appreciation for the differences in degrees across various educational institutions.
Some schools award Latin awards according to where students rank among their classmates. These are the typical top-ranking ranges:
This information is readily available. Many HR departments will be aware of the criteria for the top schools.
Here are three different college examples of class ranks:
University of Chicago
48% of all students receive a Latin honor.
University of Columbia Engineering
No more than 25% of all students receive a Latin honor.
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
22% - 30% of all students receive a Latin honor
At some institutions, and sometimes for specific degree programs, Latin awards criteria may extend beyond numerical requirements for GPA or class ranking. For instance, faculty recommendations may come into play, or eligible students may be required to submit an honors thesis for evaluation, to be part of an honors program, to complete a prescribed number of advanced courses, or to graduate early.
And at many schools, academic or disciplinary infractions are grounds for disqualifying students from receiving Latin honors, regardless of high grades or class standings.
Resist any temptation you might have to “translate” an English honors distinction to comparable Latin terminology on your resume if you graduated from an institution that doesn’t use the Latin honors model. Plain English equivalents such as “with High Honors” or “with Highest Honors” are no less honorable. The wording on your resume should match exactly what appears on your diploma. The same advice applies in reverse — don’t convert Latin honors into English. If you are caught to have fabricated anything on your resume, that is a sackable offence. Resist the temptation to change magna to summa - you may be found out.
As discussed previously, no uniform standards are in force for awarding the Latin distinctions of cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. Individual schools can set their own criteria based on GPA, class ranking, and/or other requirements.
At colleges where Latin honors are awarded at three levels of distinction, students with a 4.0 would likely graduate summa cum laude, as long as any additional criteria were met.
Policies for honors-based distinctions other than cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude vary from one college to the next. Honor roll or dean’s list inclusion is an example. This should not be confused with honors courses or honors programs' special enrollment and graduation criteria. In any of these instances, there may be an overlap with students who are awarded Latin honors.
With atypical exceptions, 4.0 is the highest GPA attainable in postsecondary institutions.
Wondering when and where this kind of information belongs on your resume? Check out our advice for listing cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude in your resume’s education section. We also offer tips for including GPAs and awards, plus an easy guide for listing college degrees.