(See also: Phi Beta Kappa)
Harvard College recognizes students who have particularly distinguished records by awarding them degrees with honors. There are two types of honors. The first is called English honors (or departmental honors), which recognizes the work done in the concentration. English or departmental honors also function as a recommendation to the College for the final determination of the honors with which the student graduates, which is called Latin honors. A small number of students not recommended for English honors by their concentration may still receive Latin honors, based on their overall grade point average.
Latin honors of summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude recognize the distinction of a student's overall record, including the work in the concentration. Latin honors of all kinds are noted on diplomas, in the commencement program, and on transcripts.
English or departmental honors ("highest honors," "high honors," or "honors") recognize the quality of the student's work in the concentration and are noted on the transcript. They are not, however, noted on the diploma or in the commencement program. (The only exception to this general rule is for students recommended for highest honors by their concentration who are not awarded the degree summa cum laude; these students may receive the degree magna cum laude with highest honors in field, and this is noted on the diploma and in the commencement program.)
Concentrations may recommend students who complete the concentration's requirements with distinction for "honors," "high honors," or "highest honors." Departments vary in the exact criteria by which they evaluate a student's work in the concentration; check with the tutorial office or the department's Head Tutor or Director of Undergraduate Studies to find out how things are done in specific program. Students are eligible to be considered for honors when they complete the specific requirements listed in the Handbook for Students for their concentration. Usually this includes a thesis or other senior project. It is important to understand that merely completing the required course work and other requirements is not sufficient to be awarded honors. A student's work must also be evaluated as especially distinguished.
Each June, between 4% and 5% of the graduating class will be awarded the degree summa cum laude. These students will have been recommended for highest honors by their concentrations, and will have outstanding overall records of achievement, including at least two half courses with grades of A or A- in each of the three main divisional areas (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences). A subcommittee of the Faculty Council meets each June to look at the records of all students recommended for highest honors and determines the minimum grade point average for the summa degree for that graduating class, conforming to the 4% to 5% target. As noted above, students in this pool who are not recommended for the summa degree may receive the degree magna cum laude with highest honors in their field (if their grade point average is high enough).
While most courses in a department or concentration will fall under the same divisional category, there are some exceptions. Thus, the following guidelines should be applied to courses, rather than departments or concentrations.
Humanities: literature, foreign language, linguistics, creative and performing arts, art history, VES, philosophy, classics, and religion. This category includes Core courses in Literature & Arts.
Social Sciences: anthropology (except bioanthropology courses), economics, government, history (including the history of science), psychology, and sociology. This category includes most Core courses in Social Analysis and Historical Studies.
Natural Sciences: pure and applied areas of the life sciences (including courses from the biological areas of anthropology and psychology), physical sciences, and mathematical sciences (including statistics and computer science). This includes Core courses in Quantitative Reasoning, Science A, and Science B.
Courses in Expository Writing will not be included in these definitions.
Each June, a combined total of 20% of the class will graduate summa cum laude and magna cum laude. In order to graduate magna cum laude, students must be recommended for "highest honors" or "high honors" by their concentration, have a grade point average that puts them in the top 20% of all students recommended for "highest honors" or "high honors," and have not been recommended for a degree summa cum laude.
Each June, approximately 30% of the class will graduate with a degree cum laude in field. These students must be recommended for "highest honors," "high honors," or "honors" by their concentration, have a grade point average that puts them in the top 50% of all of the students recommended for honors, and have not been recommended for the degree summa cum laude or magna cum laude. The total number of degrees summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude in field will represent 50% of the graduating class.
Since Latin honors are determined by a combination of grade point average and recommendations by the concentrations, there is no fixed GPA cut off. (Degrees Summa cum laude are determined by additional criteria as well. See above.) The lowest GPA to receive a degree magna cum laude in June 2006 was 3.679; the lowest GPA to receive a degree cum laude in field in June 2006 was 3.417. Please remember that these numbers will change year by year.
Yes. It is possible to graduate with the degree cum laude based solely on the overall grade point average, if a student was not recommended for honors by the concentration and the student's grade point average is at least equal to the lowest grade point average awarded the degree magna cum laude in field. This category of honors is limited to no more than 10% of the number of students graduating each June.
English or departmental honors are a joint recommendation of the two programs in which the student has worked, based on their joint assessment of the student's efforts. Departments vary in their procedures for determining these recommendations, but the two departments must agree on a single recommendation. Once a student's recommendation for English honors is known, the process for determining Latin honors proceeds in the same way as for all other students.
No. Designating a concentration as "honors-only" describes the kind of work that the concentration requires of all its students, not the evaluation of that work. Most of these concentrations require, among other things, the completion of a thesis as part of the concentration work for all their students. When students enter the program, the expectation is that they will undertake a thesis in their senior year, and these concentrations are often structured to provide the right preparation for that task. The quality of the work that the student does over time is what is evaluated as the basis for whether or not to recommend a student for the degree with honors. Many students in so-called "honors-only" concentrations will not receive Latin honors.
Honors aside, seniors often find the thesis to be one of the most intellectually challenging and satisfying parts of their Harvard career. It offers a chance to work on a topic of one's own choosing, for a substantial amount of time, in a way that is distinct from the experience in other college courses. It prepares one well for the long-term projects that people commonly encounter in their work and study after college. The completion of a thesis indicates to employers and to graduate and professional schools that a student has the capacity to focus on a multi-dimensional project for a period of months, and understands the tasks of research, synthesis, and writing that are necessary components of all such work. A thesis offers a chance to work closely with an adviser on an advanced topic, and it provides a basis for some of the most satisfying intellectual relationships that can be formed during one's time in the College. In reflecting back on their time at Harvard, many graduating seniors comment that the work they did on their thesis offered them an opportunity to bring the strands of their academic experience at Harvard together in ways they had not expected at the start of their work, and this made the project valuable to them apart from how it was evaluated.