Latin honors
English-speaking countries
cum laude, 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. magna cum laude, 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. summa cum laude, 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. Some institutions have additional distinctions, but these are uncommon. For example, at a few universities maxima cum laude, meaning "with very great praise", is an intermediary honor between the magna and the summa honors. It is sometimes used when the summa honor is reserved only for students with perfect academic records. A further rarely used distinction is that of egregia cum laude which means "with outstanding praise", and if used may be for either students achieving summa cum laude honors in a particularly difficult subject area or recipients of a non-standard bachelor's degree.
Latin honors-5