Cum Laude vs Magna Cum Laude vs Summa Cum Laude: What GPA You Need

Reviewed and updated October 2026 against the published honors rules of Texas A&M, Harvard, UCLA, Georgetown and UP Diliman, and Merriam-Webster.

Cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude at a glance

These three titles are called Latin honors (or graduation honors). Colleges award them at graduation to students with the strongest grades, and many print them on the diploma and transcript. Not every college uses all three, and some add extra requirements such as a thesis or a department’s recommendation.

What does cum laude mean?

Laude comes from the Latin for praise, and the three honors are graded versions of the same phrase. Merriam-Webster defines them as:

• Cum laude (pronounced koom-LOW-day): with distinction.
• Magna cum laude: with great distinction. Magna means great.
• Summa cum laude: with highest distinction. Summa means highest.

So when a graduation program lists someone as “magna cum laude”, it means they earned the second-highest level of honors that school gives.

What GPA do you need for summa cum laude?

This is the question most people are really asking, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on your school. Colleges use one of two systems, and they produce very different numbers.

System 1: fixed GPA cutoffs

Some schools publish a fixed GPA for each level. Texas A&M’s Student Rule 15 is a clear example: summa cum laude for a GPA of 3.90 or above, magna cum laude for 3.70 to 3.899, and cum laude for 3.50 to 3.699. Under this system, everyone who reaches the number gets the honor, however many students that is.

System 2: a share of the class

Other schools award honors to a fixed share of the graduating class. Georgetown gives summa cum laude to the top 5% of the senior class in each school, magna cum laude to the next 10% (down to the top 15%), and cum laude to the next 10% (down to the top 25%). The GPA needed changes every year, because it depends on how everyone else did.

Schools that work this way usually publish the resulting cutoffs, and at selective colleges they are very high:

Harvard also lists a separate cum laude (not “in field”) cutoff of 3.925 for May 2026. Its honors in field additionally need a recommendation from the student’s concentration.

The gap is the point to take away: a 3.75 GPA earns magna cum laude at Texas A&M but no Latin honors at all in UCLA’s College of Letters and Science. If someone tells you “summa cum laude is a 3.9”, that is true at some schools and well short at others. Your college’s catalog, student handbook or registrar website will have the rule that applies to you, usually under “graduation with honors” or “Latin honors”.

Is a 3.5, 3.7, 3.9 or 4.0 GPA enough?

Cutoffs from the published 2026-27 UCLA table and Texas A&M’s Student Rule 15. Other schools fall anywhere between these two. Meeting the GPA is also not always enough, as the next section shows.

Other rules that can stop you getting Latin honors

A high GPA is the main requirement, but most colleges add conditions:

• Credits taken at that school. Texas A&M requires at least 60 semester hours completed there, UCLA at least 90 University of California units for a letter grade, and Harvard 96 credits in letter grades. Transfer students should check this early; our guide to transferring colleges covers how transfers affect your record.
• Which grades count. Texas A&M excludes credit by examination, and Harvard counts all letter-graded courses at Harvard, including failed ones.
• A department’s recommendation. Harvard’s honors in field depend on the concentration making a recommendation by the deadline.
• Academic integrity. At Texas A&M, upper-division students found responsible for academic misconduct are not eligible for any Latin honor, and an honor can be rescinded if misconduct is found after graduation.
• Timing. The GPA printed in the graduation program is often provisional. Georgetown lists tentative honors based on GPA at press time, and final honors on the diploma use the GPA after the last term.

Latin honors vs dean’s list, semester honors and departmental honors

Latin honors are easy to confuse with other academic awards. They differ in when they are given and what they measure:

So a student can make the dean’s list every semester and still miss Latin honors at a class-rank school, and a student can graduate with departmental honors in their major without Latin honors overall. Sources: Georgetown Undergraduate Bulletin and UCLA Registrar.

Summa vs magna cum laude: how big is the difference?

At fixed-cutoff schools the difference between magna and summa is 0.2 of a GPA point (3.70 vs 3.90 at Texas A&M), which is a real gap: it usually means several more A grades over four years. At class-rank schools the gap can be tiny. In UCLA’s College of Letters and Science the 2026-27 cutoffs are 3.970 for magna and 3.992 for summa, so a single A-minus can be the difference.

Both are strong signals. On a résumé they tell an employer or graduate program that you finished near the top of your class, and at most colleges they are permanent parts of your transcript.

Latin honors in the Philippines

Latin honors are widely used in the Philippines, but the grading scale runs the other way: 1.0 is the best grade. At the University of the Philippines Diliman, summa cum laude needs a weighted average grade (WAG) of 1.20 or better, magna cum laude 1.45 or better, and cum laude 1.75 or better.

UP Diliman’s Class of 2024 included 286 summa cum laude, 1,109 magna cum laude and 788 cum laude graduates. Other Philippine universities set their own cutoffs and extra conditions, so check your school’s student handbook.

Do high schools use Latin honors?

Some do, but there is no national standard. A high school that uses cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude sets its own GPA cutoffs, often on a weighted scale where an A in an honors or AP class counts above 4.0. Many high schools use other recognitions instead, such as honor roll, graduating “with honors”, or naming a valedictorian and salutatorian.

Valedictorian vs salutatorian

Merriam-Webster defines a valedictorian as the student usually having the highest rank in a graduating class who gives the farewell (valedictory) address at commencement, and a salutatorian as the student usually having the second highest rank, who gives the opening (salutatory) address. The difference from Latin honors is that only one person is valedictorian, while many students can graduate summa cum laude in the same year.

For how old students usually are at each milestone, see our guide to how old you are when you graduate college.

Do Latin honors matter after college?

They matter most at the start. Latin honors are a quick, recognized way to show strong grades on a first résumé, on graduate-school applications and on fellowship applications. After a few years in a job, employers look much more at what you have done since.

Recent graduates discussing this online make the same point from the other side: honors help you stand out, but they do not replace internships, experience or interview skills, and plenty of honors graduates still face a long job search. The honor is worth earning; it just is not a job offer on its own.

If you are listing it, put it on the same line as your degree, for example: “B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude”. Use the exact wording your college printed on your transcript.

How to check your own college’s rules

• Search your college’s website for “Latin honors” or “graduation with honors”.
• Check the undergraduate catalog or student handbook, usually in the section on graduation or academic standing.
• Look for whether the rule uses fixed GPAs or a share of the class, and whether cutoffs are published each year.
• Note the credit requirement if you transferred in, and ask the registrar if anything is unclear.

Wondering who can see your GPA along the way? Our guide to whether professors can see your transcript and GPA explains what instructors can and cannot access.

Frequently asked questions

Which is higher, magna cum laude or summa cum laude?

Summa cum laude is the highest. The order from highest to lowest is summa cum laude (with highest distinction), magna cum laude (with great distinction), then cum laude (with distinction).

What GPA is summa cum laude?

It depends on the school. At Texas A&M it is a 3.90 or higher. At schools that set the cutoff by class rank it is much higher: Harvard’s May 2026 cutoff for summa cum laude in field was 3.987, and UCLA’s College of Letters and Science requires 3.992 for 2026-27. Check your own college’s catalog or registrar page.

What GPA is magna cum laude?

Again it varies. Texas A&M awards magna cum laude for a 3.70 to 3.899 GPA, while UCLA’s College of Letters and Science requires 3.970 for 2026-27 and Harvard’s May 2026 cutoff for magna cum laude in field was 3.925.

Is a 3.5 GPA cum laude?

At some schools, yes. Texas A&M’s cum laude range starts at 3.50. At schools that award honors by class rank, a 3.5 is usually too low: UCLA’s College of Letters and Science cum laude minimum for 2026-27 is 3.921.

Is a 4.0 GPA summa cum laude?

Almost always, as long as you meet the other requirements, such as the minimum number of credits taken at that school. At UCLA’s School of Public Affairs the 2026-27 summa cum laude minimum is exactly 4.000.

Do high schools give Latin honors?

Some do, but there is no standard. High schools that use cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude set their own GPA cutoffs, and many use valedictorian, salutatorian or honor-roll titles instead.

What is the difference between valedictorian and summa cum laude?

Valedictorian is one person, usually the student with the highest rank in the graduating class, who gives the farewell speech at graduation. Summa cum laude is a level of honors that many students can earn in the same year.

Do Latin honors appear on your diploma?

At many colleges, yes. Harvard and UCLA both say Latin honors appear on the official transcript and diploma. Check your own school’s registrar page to confirm.