In the US, many universities, colleges, and some high schools offer Latin honors courses. These courses are termed magna cum laude and summa cum laude which signify different levels of academic achievement. This article should not only help you understand what is magna cum laude but also how they work within the framework of American academia. Summa cum laude is the highest honor conferred annually on those who reach the summit of academic achievement, comprising a tiny fraction of college students. The prestige and distinction attached to Magna is a level below Summa, and in the third tier is the cum laude.
Magna cum laude is Only for a Selected Few
College students who abstain from a Latin course or feel handicapped for not having a Latin-English dictionary handy can pursue a Latin course to achieve a magna degree. In English, it means ‘with great distinction’. It’s just above cum laude, which means ‘with distinction’. Only students with high academic achievement or grades qualify to earn the recognition. It is a tier below the highest possible. Although earning Magna is commendable, only a few students can achieve the distinction. They still have some way to scale the summit to prove themselves worthy of the highest recognition – summa cum laude.
Summa cum Laude
Summa cum Laude is the highest distinction in Latin, similar to conquering the highest peak. Being the highest distinction, it recognizes the excellence of the student who has earned the highest percentage and is the school topper in Latin. The school might also confer the highest award to the student for achieving some other metric worthy of the highest recognition.
You will observe that all the degrees in Latin have the term Laude attached to them. It is when translated into English, means ‘praise, or ‘honor’ and closely resembles the English term ‘laudatory.’
The above information should clarify any summa cum laude vs. magna cum laude debate.
The Methodology of Awarding Distinction
Universities and colleges set their standards without a national standard to determine what is necessary to qualify for these honors. Some institutions set a certain GPA as the minimum requirement to qualify for the honors. For example, a student of the University of Pennsylvania should at least have a grade point average or GPA of 3.8 or above to scale the summit and earn the distinction of summa cum laude. For Magna, the required GPA is 3.6, and for cum laude, it is 3.4. The College of Arts and Sciences of the Ohio State University uses a different bar to qualify for the distinctions – 3.9 for Summa, 3.7 for Magna, and 3.5 for cum laude.
Some colleges use a student’s class rank to award Latin honors. Of the 30% of undergraduates of New York University that receive one of the honors, the top 5% qualify for Suma, the next 10% for magna cum laude, and the remaining 15% of students receive cum laude.
