What GPA do you need for Summa Cumlaude?
Christopher Ramos
Updated on March 19, 2026
3.7
summa cum laude: at least a 3.7 total GPA (grade point average) and a class rank in the 95th percentile or above in the student’s school or college.
What is Summa Cumma laude?
Summa cum laude is the highest of three Latin honors that may be bestowed upon students earning a bachelor’s degree. Criteria for the summa cum laude may include grade point average, class rank, hours and special projects (i.e., senior thesis) completed, and recommendations from an academic department.
Does being summa cume laude matter?
Other schools might use the cum laude system, but use different GPAs so that a summa cum laude at one school is a 3.75 but a 3.8 at another. But since both GPA and cum laude are a measure of a student’s mastery of the material, yes it matters.
What is Magna Cumme laude?
What Is Magna Cum Laude? Magna cum laude is an academic honorific used by educational institutions to signify that an academic degree was earned with notable distinction. The Latin phrase means “with great praise.”
Which is first magna or summa?
Summa cum laude is the highest Latin honor awarded to students with the highest GPA (3.9–4.0 or top one to five percent) while magna cum laude is the second-highest honor awarded to students with a GPA between 3.7 and 3.8, or top 10 to 15 percent.
Which laude is highest?
Like summiting a mountain, the student who has achieved summa cum laude has achieved “the highest distinction.” This student has earned grades within the highest percentage of their school or department or has achieved some other metric that the school considers worthy of the highest recognition.
Which is highest magna or summa?
Magna cum laude is the highest Latin honor awarded to students with the highest GPA (3.9–4.0 or top one to five percent) while summa cum laude is the second-highest honor awarded to students with a GPA between 3.7 and 3.8, or top 10 to 15 percent.