Cum Laude

The Latin term “cum laude” refers to the academic grading system and means “with honor”. It is used in the sphere of education in order to signify the excellent academic performance of a student during the coursework. As it demonstrates the educational success of a student, many use it in their resumes.

Cum Laude explained

In some universities, particularly in the United States, but also in countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, Italy or Germany, Spain, pontifical universities and faculties around the world issuing degrees recognized by the Vatican, or in French institutions such as the Panthéon-Assas University, the Toulouse-I-Capitole University or the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, distinctions for degrees such as bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees or their equivalents are given in Latin.

There is also the expression honoris causa ("for honor") which is used for a doctorate given on an honorary basis.

In total, there are three widespread Latin educational honors in the United States. They are: cum laude, summa cum laude and magna cum laude. 

The stated above Latin honors range as follows. The first and most common one is cum laude. The second, higher one is magna cum laude, which states for “with high honor”. The last and the highest one is summa cum laude, which means “with the highest honor”.

Each academic institution has its own criteria for awarding a student with such a grade. Normally, it includes high GPA (grade point average), the amount of completed credit hours as well as other academic attainments coupled with outside academic accomplishments.

Some academic institutions reward students who get certain GPA levels with Latin honors. Normally, cum laude is bestowed with a GPA of 3.5 and higher. Magna and summa cum laude require higher GPAs. 

Other universities reward only top students of each class with Latin honors. In other words, the best few students will receive any of the two highest rewards and a small percentage will be bestowed with cum laude. 

Getting an excellent GPA is not enough to be bestowed with Latin honors in some top-rank universities. Some of them require published articles and recommendations from teaching staff.