Office of the Registrar

Latin Honors

Graduates may earn one of three degrees of Latin Honors: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude. Requirements for graduation with honors are as follows:

Fall 2002 through Fall 2005 Catalog Years

A minimum of 45 U.T. Dallas graded credit hours are required. Each honors level requires a minimum grade point average (GPA) to be attained over all course work taken at The University of Texas at Dallas. In the case of a student with a double major who wishes to graduate with honors, a single honors designation will be awarded.

For magna and summa honors, a single honors thesis will be completed in the ‘primary’ major.

Students graduating with a double degree who wish to receive honors for both degrees must complete separate honors requirements for each degree.

Summa cum laude

• Completion of a minimum of 45 graded hours at U.T. Dallas;
• Minimum overall GPA of 3.9;
• The completion of a senior honors thesis or project in the major field with an evaluation of summa as determined by the program.

Magna cum laude

• Completion of a minimum of 45 graded hours at U.T. Dallas;
• Minimum overall GPA of 3.75;
• The completion of a senior honors thesis or project in the major field with an evaluation of magna as determined by the program.

Cum laude

• Completion of a minimum of 45 graded hours at U.T. Dallas;
• Minimum overall GPA of 3.5.

Fall 2006 to Present Catalog Year

A minimum of 45 U.T. Dallas graded credit hours are required. Each Latin Honors level requires a minimum grade point average (GPA) to be attained over all course work taken at The University of Texas at Dallas. In the case of a student with a double major who wishes to graduate with honors, a single honors designation will be awarded. Students graduating with double degrees who wish to receive honors for both degrees must complete separate honors requirements for each degree.

The grade point requirements for Latin Honors are issued by the University in the summer of each academic year and apply to graduates in the following academic year. The thresholds for each level of honors are determined from a rolling average of the grades of all graduates for the previous six long semesters. Averages are computed separately for each school within the University. The GPA that represents the top five percent of all graduates in a particular school will be considered the threshold for awarding summa cum laude honors. The GPA that defines the next 10 percent in each school will be the lower limit for magna cum laude. The average grade that defines the next 15 percent in each school will be considered the benchmark for awarding cum laude honors. A minimum GPA of 3.40 is required for any Latin Honors.

Latin honors benchmarks for students graduating Fall 2008 through Summer 2009 (06F/08F Catalog):