Summa cum laude represents the highest college degree honor awarded to undergraduate students, and is reserved for the most outstanding academic achievers in a graduating class. The University of Notre Dame and Duke University bestow summa cum laude honors upon students graduating in the top 5 percent of their class, based upon cumulative grade point average (GPA). Harvard College selects between 4 and 5 percent of each graduating class for summa cum laude honors based upon a combination of grade point average, faculty recommendation and feedback from a Faculty Council subcommittee. Graduate schools and employers often give priority to applicants who graduate with high honors.
At many colleges and universities in the United States, graduates earn magna cum laude honors for academic achievement in the top 15 percent of their graduating class. In 2010, Duke University's minimum cumulative grade point average required to graduate magna cum laude was 3.955 for students in the Pratt School program, and 3.921 for students in the Trinity School program. Likewise, the University of Notre Dame honors the top 15 percent of each class with magna cum laude honors; while Harvard College bestows such honors so that a total of 20 percent of each class receives either magna cum laude or summa cum laude.
Cum laude honors are the easiest of the Latin honors to achieve, but still represent very strong academic performance throughout the undergraduate education program. Following the identification of summa cum laude and magna cum laude graduates, Harvard awards students in the next 30 percent of high academic achievement with cum laude honors, resulting in a total of 50 percent of each graduating class receiving one of the three Latin honors designations. Notre Dame gives cum laude honors to students in the top 30 percent of each graduating class, while Duke University recognizes the top 25 percent of its classes as cum laude graduates.