What cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude mean

The three Latin honours

The phrases are Latin, and the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries translate them as follows:

• Cum laude: "with praise". The third of the three levels.
• Magna cum laude: "with great praise". The second level.
• Summa cum laude: "with highest praise". The highest level.

The dictionary identifies these as a US usage: in the United States they are the customary recognition for graduates with the strongest academic records.

How institutions determine who receives them

There is no national rule. Each institution sets its own criteria, and those criteria differ in method, not only in thresholds. Examples from official US policies:

The same phrase may therefore mean "the top 5% of this year's class" at one university and "a GPA of 3.90 or higher" at another. A reader comparing graduates of different institutions should consult each institution's rule.

In Spain: cum laude on a doctoral thesis

In Spain the phrase belongs principally to the doctorate. Under Real Decreto 99/2011, which regulates doctoral studies, the examining committee grades a thesis as no apto, aprobado, notable or sobresaliente, and may award the mention cum laude if the overall grade is sobresaliente and the secret vote is unanimously in favour. The Royal Spanish Academy's dictionary records the same usage: sobresaliente cum laude, the highest mark.

In Latin America

Usage varies by university. At the Universidad de La Sabana in Colombia, for example, the doctoral regulation grades a thesis on a numerical scale and reserves cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude for the highest marks, the two highest requiring a unanimous jury. Mexico's UNAM, by contrast, uses a mención honorífica rather than the Latin phrases.

Distinct from UK degree classifications

Most UK universities use a degree classification instead: first-class honours, the highest; upper and lower second-class honours (2:1 and 2:2); and third-class honours, typically the lowest. A first is not a summa cum laude, nor is a 2:1 a magna: the two systems measure different things by different methods, and translating one into the other misleads the reader.

Stating a distinction on a certificate

• Use the institution's exact wording. If the regulations say "magna cum laude", print that phrase; do not translate it.
• State it once, beside the award. "Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude" reads better than a separate line.
• Make the rule available. A brief line or a reference to the academic regulations tells a foreign reader what the distinction required.
• Include it in what is verified. A distinction that appears on the printed sheet but not on the verification page invites doubt.

In Emitcert, a distinction forms part of the certificate's wording: it is copied in when the certificate is granted, covered by the signature and shown on the verification page exactly as printed.