Many institutes confer three levels of Latin honors, although some eschew the third, namely:
- cum laude, meaning "with praise"[1]—usually pronounced /kʊmˈlaʊdeɪ/ or /kʊmˈlɔːdeɪ/.
- magna cum laude, meaning "with great praise"
- summa cum laude, meaning "with highest praise"
It is difficult to generalize what percentage of top marks correspond to each of the degrees of honors, given that the percentages or grade point averages required for each rank can differ from place to place or university to university. For example, at Harvard, between 4% and 5% of the graduating class receive summa, while 20% receive either cum or magna.[2] In general, degrees summa cum laude are relatively rare—often reserved for the top two percent of students at the most—and degrees magna cum laude only slightly less so
