United States
US Latin Honors Cutoffs by University
There is no national GPA cutoff for Latin honors. Most selective US universities award cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude by class percentile and recalculate the GPA thresholds every year, so the same GPA can earn honors one year and miss it the next. A few well-known schools award no Latin honors at all. Always confirm against your own registrar's current policy.
The two systems: percentile vs fixed GPA
Universities decide Latin honors in one of two ways:
- Class-percentile (most selective schools): a fixed share of the graduating class receives each level (for example the top 5% summa, next 15% magna, next 30% cum laude). The GPA needed is whatever falls at those cut points that year, so it moves up or down with the class.
- Fixed GPA thresholds (many state and public universities): published cutoffs such as 3.5 / 3.7 / 3.9 that stay the same from year to year regardless of how many students qualify.
Published cutoffs at top universities
| University | How honors are set | Recent GPA cutoffs |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard | Percentile: top 5% summa, next 15% magna, next 30% cum laude (overall honors capped) | Class of 2025: summa ≈ 3.99, magna ≈ 3.93, cum laude ≈ 3.76 |
| Yale | Percentile, capped at a small share of the class | Class of 2026: summa 3.99, magna 3.96, cum laude 3.91 |
| Princeton | Departmental standing; no fixed GPA limit | No set cutoff — awarded to roughly half of seniors |
Sources: Harvard Registrar — Latin honors; Yale Daily News reporting on the Class of 2026 cutoffs; Princeton Alumni Weekly. Cutoffs are recalculated every year — treat these as recent examples, not permanent thresholds.
Universities that award no Latin honors
- MIT: awards no Latin honors at all — there is no cum laude, magna or summa.
- Stanford: no Latin honors; instead confers "with Distinction," based on GPA.
- Brown: awards a single honor, magna cum laude, to roughly the top 20% of a class based on the proportion of A grades — there is no summa or cum laude, and Brown does not compute a GPA.
If your school is on this list, a "target GPA for cum laude" does not exist — the recognition works differently.
What this means for your GPA
Because most cutoffs are relative to your class and change yearly, aim comfortably above the most recent published threshold rather than exactly at it. Use the interactive calculators below to track your GPA on your university's real scale — for Harvard, the calculator uses the Registrar's published percentile cutoffs.
United States GPA Calculators
Use the calculator for your university after checking the conversion or grading guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What GPA is cum laude?
There is no universal number. At many public universities cum laude falls around 3.5–3.7, but percentile-based schools set it higher and recalculate yearly — Harvard's cum laude cutoff for the Class of 2025 was about 3.76 and Yale's for the Class of 2026 was 3.91.
Does MIT give Latin honors?
No. MIT awards no cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude. Some schools such as Stanford use a "with Distinction" system based on GPA instead of Latin honors.
Are Latin honors based on GPA or class rank?
At most selective universities, class rank/percentile. They cap the share of a class that can receive each level and convert that to a GPA cutoff after grades are final, so the required GPA changes from year to year.