Magna cum laude is a Latin phrase meaning “with great honor,” and it is awarded to students who have displayed remarkable academic distinction. As a general rule, Latin honors are used for undergraduate college degrees only, although they sometimes appear in high schools and at the graduate level. There are also no universal standard for Latin honors, so a magna cum laude degree can mean different things, depending on the institution which awarded it.

There are three levels of Latin honors. The first is a cum laude degree, which indicates academic distinction, and an ability to go to extra effort as a student. The next is the magna cum laude honor, which is higher than the cum laude distinction, suggesting that the student worked even harder for his or her degree. Finally, the summa cum laude honor means “with highest honors,” indicating that the student is at the top of his or her graduating class in terms of academic distinction and talent.

Honors are typically awarded to students with a very high grade point average, but often there are additional criteria which must be satisfied before a student will be offered honors. For example, many schools require students to take an honors class or write an honors thesis to get honors, and sometimes students must also be nominated for honors by professors or fellow students. Extracurricular activities may also be taken into account when considering honors awards, to reward well-rounded students rather than pure academics.

Typically, the magna cum laude honor will be announced at graduation, as are other honors and awards, giving the audience a chance to recognize the finest students in the school. However, this honor isn't just about an opportunity to bask in praise; being able to say that one has graduated magna cum laude is a distinction, and it can attract attention on resumes and graduate school applications, especially if the award comes from a prominent university.

Due to grade inflation, a high GPA alone isn't always a great indicator of academic success. Academic honors help to distinguish especially high performing students from the rest of the school, ensuring that the top performers in a class get special recognition for their work. Often, the number of honors to be awarded in any given year is capped, so that the honors system will not be cheapened by an excess of recognized students.