Honors

There are a lot of "honors societies" out there; locally, nationally, and within disciplines. Some are legitimate, others simply exist to help you pad your resume (for a fee--remember "Who's Who Among High School Seniors of the Greater Poughkeepsie area"?) To help make the distinction, check out the website for the Association of College Honors Societies. This organization researches honors societies and provides a list of those that meet their criteria.

The Honors Program is not in any way affiliated with any honors societies and cannot answer any questions about them. We provide links to the honors societies with chapters on BYU campus only as a service to our students; these links are accessible through our BlackBoard site; look under "Links" on the main menu.

 

Scholastic Honors

Scholastic honors are not the same as graduating with University Honors. Latin distinctions are determined each graduation about 6 weeks before graduation. They are calculated based on the GPA of students who have been submitted to graduate. A student must have 45 residency hours in order to qualify for Scholastic Honors. The are calculated as follows:

 

• Summa Cum Laude: Top 1% of those submitted for graduation
• Magna Cum Laude: Top 1.1 to 5% of those submitted for graduation
• Cum Laude: Top 5.1% to 10% of those submitted for graduation

   

If a student has a GPA in the honors break off range and does not have the 45 hours at the time the honors are calculated but will have after grade processing, his/her name will not appear as having honors in the Commencement Program but the honors will show up on the diploma and transcript. For more information, contact your college advisement center.