By Cyril KimbiLatin honours appear on American degree certificates and in graduation programmes, and they cause a specific kind of confusion for anyone outside that system: they look like a formal qualification, and they are not. They are a distinction awarded by each institution against its own rules.
The three levels
| Honour | Meaning | Typical GPA | Typical share of class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cum laude | With praise | 3.5-3.69 | Top 20-30% |
| Magna cum laude | With great praise | 3.7-3.89 | Top 10-15% |
| Summa cum laude | With highest praise | 3.9-4.0 | Top 1-5% |
Pronunciation, since it is asked more than anything else: koom LOW-day, with “low” rhyming with “how”.
The thing most guides get wrong
There is no national standard. Every institution sets its own rule, and the two common designs behave very differently.
A fixed-threshold system awards the honour to anyone above a stated GPA. If half the class reaches 3.5, half the class graduates cum laude.
A percentile system awards it to a fixed proportion — the top 5 percent get summa regardless of the absolute number. At a highly selective institution this can mean a 3.95 GPA earns nothing at all, because the cut-off that year was 3.97.
This is why comparing honours across universities is close to meaningless, and why an employer who understands the system asks which university it came from before reading anything into it.
What is usually excluded
Several conditions apply almost everywhere and catch transfer students in particular:
- A residency minimum. Most institutions require a minimum number of credits earned at that university — commonly 45 to 60 — before you are eligible at all. Transfer credits count towards the degree but not towards honours.
- Undergraduate only, usually. Latin honours are typically not awarded for master’s degrees, and almost never for doctorates.
- Pass/fail courses excluded. They carry no grade points, so they neither help nor hurt the average.
- Academic integrity findings commonly disqualify a student regardless of GPA.
Latin honours are not the same as honours degrees
This is the distinction that matters most to students outside the United States, because the words overlap and the systems do not.
| System | What it is | How it is earned |
|---|---|---|
| Latin honours (US) | A distinction on an ordinary degree | GPA or class rank |
| Honours degree (UK, Commonwealth) | A different, longer degree | Additional research or a dissertation year |
| Departmental honours (US) | Distinction within one subject | An honours thesis |
| Mention (France, LMD, Cameroon) | A band attached to the final average | Average out of 20 |
A British “BSc (Hons)” is not a decorated BSc — it is a distinct qualification, and in several Commonwealth systems the honours year is an extra year of study. Writing “BSc Honours” on a CV when you hold an American BSc cum laude misdescribes the qualification.
The Cameroonian and francophone equivalent
Under the LMD system used in Cameroon, the equivalent signal is the mention, calculated from the final average out of 20:
- Passable — 10 to 11.99
- Assez Bien — 12 to 13.99
- Bien — 14 to 15.99
- Tres Bien — 16 and above
Anglophone Cameroonian universities generally use a letter-grade and CGPA system closer to the American model, so a graduate of the University of Buea and a graduate of the University of Yaounde I may describe the same performance in entirely different vocabulary.
On an international application, state what your transcript says and let the credential evaluator map it. “Licence, mention Bien” is precise and verifiable; “magna cum laude” written on a francophone transcript is neither, and the mismatch is noticed.
How much do they actually matter?
Less than students hope, and more than cynics claim.
Where they count: graduate school applications, competitive scholarships, law and medical admission, some consulting and finance graduate schemes with explicit academic filters, and academic careers. Where they mostly do not: the great majority of employment after the first job, where experience displaces the transcript entirely.
The honest framing is that Latin honours are a tie-breaker rather than a qualification. They open a shortlist. Nothing more, and nothing less.
How to write it correctly
Conventionally italicised and lower case, after the degree: BSc in Chemistry, magna cum laude. Do not capitalise it, do not add “with” (it is already there in the Latin), and do not claim a level your institution did not confer.
Frequently asked questions
What GPA is summa cum laude?
Commonly 3.9 or above, but the threshold is set by each institution and may be a class percentile rather than a fixed number.
Which is higher, magna or summa cum laude?
Summa cum laude is the highest, then magna cum laude, then cum laude.
Do master’s degrees get Latin honours?
Rarely. They are overwhelmingly an undergraduate distinction.
Do employers check Latin honours?
Employers who filter on academics verify them against the transcript. Claiming an honour you were not awarded is a straightforward integrity problem.
What is the equivalent in Cameroon?
The mention on an LMD degree — Passable, Assez Bien, Bien or Tres Bien — calculated from the final average out of 20.
