Upper division IT honors

Each IT department administers its own upper division honors program leading to graduation with Latin honors degree (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude). Participation in lower division honors is not a prerequisite to upper division honors. Admission is based on the student's cumulative GPA. Contact your department's honors advisor for more information on admission requirements.

You may apply for Latin honors as soon as you have been admitted to upper division in your major. You should apply as early as possible in your junior year because your plans must be approved by both the department and the IT Honors office.

Latin honors requirements

Participation in the upper division honors program is a prerequisite to graduation with Latin honors. For graduation with Latin honors, University policy requires a minimum final upper division GPA. This GPA is calculated from the final 60 upper division credits obtained before graduation including liberal education courses but excluding S/N credits. Credits must be earned at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus (transfer credits are not included). All of the credits earned in the semester in which the 60th upper division credit is obtained (counting from the end of the transcript) are included in calculating the upper division GPA, so the total can be more than 60.

IT also requires a senior honors thesis and a minimum number of honors experiences. Each department has defined a set of upper-division honors experiences, which may include honors courses or seminars, special seminars, research experiences, or additional courses not normally part of the major program.

Latin Honors Degree	Minimum upper division GPA	Thesis/minimum number of honors experiences in the department
cum laude	3.500	thesis; one honors experience
magna cum laude	3.667	thesis; two honors experiences
summa cum laude	3.750	thesis; three honors experiences

Completing Latin honors

Final approval of your honors program will be made during the semester in which you will graduate. Shortly before you complete your last semester, you must submit a Final Graduation with Honors Form signed by your advisor. Submit the form no later than the seventh week of the term you will graduate. The Thesis Approval form, signed by both the honors and thesis advisors, and a copy of your thesis are due in the IT Honors office at the end of the last week of classes in the term you will graduate. The honors office will send you email reminder notices of these due dates.

Final review of your Latin honors work will be completed after your final semester grades are posted on your student record. Graduation with a Latin honors degree will appear on your transcript and diploma after all forms are filed, approved, and work is completed.

Graduation with distinction

Independent of your candidacy for Latin honors, you may graduate with distinction (cumulative GPA of 3.75–3.89) or high distinction (3.90–4.0). These designations will appear on your transcript but not on the diploma. No application is necessary; these designations are done automatically.

IT Honors Program
136 Lind Hall
612-625-2800
ithonors@umn.edu