Latin honours 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 honours 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 (listed in order of increasing merit): 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 school 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 (or additional) non-Latin honors to undergraduates. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, for example, has a series of plain English grading honors based on class standing.[1] Some colleges and universities, notably including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Reed College, and Yale Law School, do not use honors at all.
These honors, when they are used, are almost always awarded to undergraduate students 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.
In the United States, most colleges and universities use Latin honors for bachelor's degrees and for the Juris Doctor law degree. They are not normally used for any other degrees, such as master's degrees or the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees. There are three standard levels of Latin honors:
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:
In the UK, the Latin cum laude is used in commemorative Latin versions of degree certificates sold by a few universities (e.g. the University of Edinburgh) 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.[4]
For undergraduate degrees, Latin honors are used in only a few countries such as Israel, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Canada. Most countries use a different scheme, such as the British undergraduate degree classification (usually used in Commonwealth countries) 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.
In Austria, the only Latin honor in use is Latin: [[sub auspiciis Praesidentis]] rei publicae ("under the auspices of the president of the republic") 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 (i.e. 0.8%) achieve a Latin: sub auspiciis degree.
In Belgium, the university degree awarded is limited to:[5]
In Brazil, most universities do not provide honors to their students. Among the few universities that do so, the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA—Technological Institute of Aeronautics) awards the Latin: cum laude honor for graduates with every individual grade above 8.5 (out of 10.0), the Latin: magna cum laude honor for graduates with average grade above 8.5 and more than 50% of individual grades above 9.5, and the Latin: summa cum laude honor for graduates with average grade above 9.5. As of 2009, only 22 graduates have received the Latin: summa cum laude honor at ITA. The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro awards the Latin: cum laude honor for graduates with average grade from 8.0 to 8.9, the Latin: magna cum laude honor for graduates with average grade from 9.0 to 9.4, and the Latin: summa cum laude honor for graduates with average grade from 9.5 to 10.0. The Federal University of Ceará awards the Latin: magna cum laude honor for undergraduates who have never failed a course, achieved an average grade from 8.5 (out of 10.0) and have received a fellowship of both Academic Extension and Teaching Initiation.
In Estonia, up until 2010 both Latin: summa cum laude and Latin: cum laude were used. Latin: Summa cum laude was awarded only for very exceptional work. Since 1 September 2010, only Latin: cum laude is used. It is awarded to bachelors, masters and integrated studies graduates. Occasionally the word Estonian: kiitusega, which means "with praise", is substituted for the usual Latin: cum laude. To receive Latin: cum laude one must achieve a 4.60 GPA (out of 5) and receive the highest grade (A – 5.00) for the thesis or the final examination.
See also: Academic grading in Finland. The Finnish Matriculation Examinations at the end of lukio/gymnasium uses the grades of: Latin: improbatur (I, failing; "not accepted"), Latin: approbatur (A; "accepted"), Latin: lubenter approbatur (B; "willingly accepted"), Latin: cum laude approbatur (C; "accepted with praise"), Latin: magna cum laude approbatur (M; "accepted with great praise"), Latin: eximia cum laude approbatur (E; "accepted with excellent praise") and Latin: [[laudatur]] (L; "praised"). 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 Latin: non sine laude approbatur (N; "accepted not without praise") between Latin: lubenter and Latin: cum laude; technical universities use a numerical scale (1–5) instead.
In France, usually the French honors French: mention très bien ("very good mention"), French: mention bien ("good mention"), and French: mention assez bien ("quite good mention") are used. However some Grandes Écoles, like the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, HEC Paris, use the Latin and English titles Latin: "summa cum laude" / "graduated with highest honors" for the top 2% and Latin: "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.[6] Before this date, the French PhD diploma could be awarded with increasing honors: French: mention bien, French: mention très honorable, French: mention très honorable avec félicitations du jury.[7] While these honors grades have been revoked for the PhD diploma, they are still in use for doctors of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dental Medicine.
In Germany, the range of degrees is:
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 ("very good") and 4.0 ("pass"), and 5.0 ("fail"), are given.
In Hungary, the range of degrees—similar to the German system—is: Latin: rite ("duly" conferred, that is, the requirements are fulfilled), Latin: cum laude (with honors), Latin: summa cum laude (with highest honors). These degrees are used in university diplomas and in certain fields of sciences (medical, legal and a very few others) only. The grades of degrees are dependent on the received average points from final exams and from average points from the university studies.
See main article: Academic grading in Italy.
In Italy, the Latin: cum laude notation (Italian: con lode being the equivalent in Italian) is used as an increasing level of the highest grade for both exams (30/30) and degrees (110/110), in all its levels; Passing an exam Latin: cum laude (Italian: 30 e lode) has usually only an honorific meaning, but sometimes it influences the average grade and can be useful to the student so honored (usually weighting 31/30). Italian: "30 e lode" is usually awarded after answering correctly a bonus difficult question at the oral examination.
In Italy, Italian: 110 e lode (at institutions using a 110-point system) is the highest rank that can be achieved during the academic studies, and corresponds usually to a final score greater than 110/110 (the specific threshold varies from university to university). Up to 3 bonus points can be awarded for merits, e.g. having an average exams score greater than 28.5/30 (95% equivalent), excellent final project or for graduating on time. More notations include: Italian: bacio e abbraccio accademico ("academic kiss and embrace"), Italian: menzione d'onore ("honor mention"), and Italian: dignità di stampa ("dignity of printing"), and were given based on various university-specific requirements, but without a legal value.
In Malta, for Bachelor Honours degrees Latin: summa cum laude refers to first class honours, Latin: magna cum laude refers to second class honours (upper division), Latin: cum laude refers to second class honours (lower division), whilst Latin: bene probatus refers to third class honours. Professional degrees lasting longer than the standard three years such as the five year Bachelor of Pharmacy are awarded Latin: egregia cum laude. Postgraduate diplomas and master's degrees may be awarded as pass with distinction (Latin: summa cum laude), pass with merit (Latin: magna cum laude), or pass (Latin: bene probatus).
In Mexico, Latin: cum laude (also known as Spanish; Castilian: mención honorífica in Spanish) 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 (i.e. Spanish; Castilian: {{ill|Presea Lázaro Cárdenas|es or Gabino Barreda Medal) and a diploma is given as a form of Latin: cum laude.
In the Netherlands, two classes of honors may be used for bachelor's, master's and PhD programs: Latin: cum laude (with honor) and Latin: summa cum laude (with highest honor). Typically these distinctions are reserved to mark exceptional achievement above a high 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 (on a scale of 1–10, where 10 is the highest). It may also be awarded based on the weighted average of first achieved grades for each subject only. Generally, less than 2% receive the Latin: cum laude distinction. It is also possible to receive a PhD degree Latin: 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 Latin: cum laude. At Dutch university colleges Latin: cum laude, Latin: magna cum laude and, exceptionally, Latin: summa cum laude may be awarded.
In the Philippines, junior high school and senior high school students under the new K–12 curriculum use an honor system using Filipino translations of the Latin original. Students who achieve a final grade average of 90-94 are awarded the title Filipino; Pilipino: May Karangalan (English: with honors) and will receive a bronze medal with the DepEd seal. Those who have a final grade average of 95–97 receive the title of Filipino; Pilipino: May Mataas na Karangalan (English: with high honors) and a silver medal with the same seal. Students with a final grade average of 98-100 shall be awarded the title of Filipino; Pilipino: May Pinakamataas na Karangalan (English: with highest honors) and a gold medal with the same specification. In college, students are awarded the latin honors Latin: cum laude, Latin: magna cum laude and Latin: summa cum laude, respectively.[8]
In Russia, the honor system is based on the grade point average. At least 4.75 out of 5.0 points are required for the summa cum laude degree (in Russian, Russian: с отличием Russian: s otlichiem, "with excellence").[9] The graduate has to receive a perfect grade on all final examinations. Usually less than 2% of all graduating students accomplish this (depending on the university and year). In military schools, a "red diploma" may be accompanied by a gold medal (Latin: summa cum laude) 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 (Russian: хорошо Russian: horosho, "good", being second highest grade) on their final exams or other subjects as listed in the high school diploma (Russian: аттестат о (полном) среднем образовании Russian: attestat o (polnom) srednem obrazovanii).
In Singapore, the Latin honors, Latin: cum laude, Latin: magna cum laude and Latin: 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 4.3 (SMU awards 4.3 for A+ grades) 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 Latin: summa cum laude, the next 10% Latin: magna cum laude, and the next 20% Latin: cum laude. There are no credit (CAP) requirements to achieve the Latin honors at Yale-NUS College.[10]
In South Africa, the Latin honors Latin: cum laude is used for bachelor's degrees and master's degrees, and is awarded to students who have achieved an average grade of 75% or higher throughout the degree. Latin: Cum laude in South Africa can be considered broadly equivalent to a first class degree in the United Kingdom or a GPA of 3.7–4.0 in the United States.
In Spain, the Latin honors Latin: cum laude is used for PhD degrees only, and is awarded after a secret vote of the jury members, using envelopes that must be opened in a separate session, and requiring unanimity.
In Switzerland, the degrees Latin: rite, Latin: cum laude, Latin: magna cum laude, Latin: insigni cum laude ("distinguished with praise"), and Latin: summa cum laude are used, but the exact GPA corresponding to each varies by institution.
In Ukraine, the university education honor system is based on by-law # 161 (2 June 1993) of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine (3.12.3.5). For a student to graduate from a university with a diploma with honors (Latin: cum laude), students have to receive mark 5 (excellent) at least on 75% of courses, receive mark 4 (good) at max 25% of courses, and pass the state exams only with mark 5 (excellent). Also, students are expected to have participated in research projects with visible results.[11]