Academic Honors

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences encourages high academic achievement and recognizes outstanding students in several ways. Visit the Graduation Requrements section in the Courses of Study for more information under the "Academic Honors" heading.

Latin Honors
Dean's List

Beginning with the Fall 2026 conferral date, Cornell University will institute a standardized Latin Honors system based solely on final cumulative undergraduate GPA. Link the courses of study for detailed information.

Latin Honors afford recognition for academic excellence over the duration of a student's entire official undergraduate coursework at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Latin Honors are officially annotated on the transcript and diploma of students who have graduated.

Bachelor of Sciences with Honors

Students must meet one of the following sets of criteria to receive a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors:

Summa Cum Laude: Students receive a cumulative GPA of 4.00 or greater will graduate with “Summa Cum Laude.”
Magna Cum Laude: Students receiving a cumulative GPA of greater than or equal to 3.75 and less than 4.0 will graduate “Magna Cum Laude.”
Cum Laude: Students receiving a cumulative GPA of greater than or equal to 3.50 and less than 3.75 will graduate “Cum Laude.”

How to compute Latin Honors eligibility in your final semester for a Bachelor of Science with Honors

S = the number of letter graded credits completed

T = the number of letter graded credits enrolled for in the current semester

Q = Quality points completed (A quality point for one course would be the number of
credits you took the course by, multiplied by the quality point assigned to the grade).
i.e. if you took a 3 credits course and received an A, you would have 12 quality points

Quality-point equivalents

A+ = 4.3
A = 4.0
A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3
B = 3.0
B- - 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C = 2.0
C- = 1.7
D+ = 1.3
D = 1.0
D- = 0.7
F= 0

The grades of INC, R, S, and U do not have quality-point equivalents.

Plug in the numbers from your record to compute the following Latin Honors Eligibility:

SUMMA

4.0 x (S + T) – Q = total number of quality points needed to attain SUMMA
standing. To figure out the GPA needed you would take the Quality Points
needed and divide it by T (the number of letter graded credits you are enrolled for).

MAGNA

3.75 x (S + T) – Q = total number of quality points needed to attain MAGNA
standing. To figure out the GPA needed you would take the Quality Points needed
and divide it by T (the number of letter graded credits you are enrolled for).

CUM LAUDE

3.5 x (S + T) – Q = total number of quality points needed to attain CUM LAUDE standing. To figure out the GPA needed you would take the Quality Points needed and divide it by T (the number of letter graded credits you are enrolled for).

Effective Fall 2023- Spring 2024:

Cornell University is phasing out individual school and college Dean's Lists. The Dean's List designation will not be applicable to undergraduate students matriculating in Summer 2023 and beyond. The Dean's List will be discontinued for all students at the end of the Spring 2026 semester.

Each semester undergraduate students are recognized for academic excellence by inclusion on the Dean’s List. Eligibility for the Dean’s list in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is determined by the following criteria:

A minimum course load for the semester of 12 letter-graded credits;
Achievement of a semester GPA of at least 3.50; and
Achievement of an “S” grade, or a “C-” or better grade in each course (including Physical Education), with no “Incompletes”, "Withdrawals (W)" or “NGR”.

When is the determination made?
At the end of each fall or spring semester after grades are posted.
Notification
Students will receive email notice from CALS Office of Student Services that they have attained Dean's List, and their official University transcript will record the achievement based on the criteria above.
Dean's List Certificate
Dean's List Certificates are available in DUST once grades are posted.
Grade changes and Incompletes
Dean's List will be granted retroactively if a student meets all the criteria due to a grade change or makeup of an incomplete. It is the student's responsibility to contact CALS Student Services to have Dean’s list posted to their record. Dean's List cannot be granted once a degree has been awarded. More information can be found in the Courses of Study under course enrollment and credits.

Dean's Certification Request

Students requesting a Dean's Certification form must first fill out a Release of Academic Information

Students requesting a Dean's Certification form must first fill out a Release of Academic Information Form permitting the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards and the Academic Integrity Board to release disciplinary information. Please send a copy of the form with your portion completed to cals-studentservices [at] cornell.edu (cals-studentservices[at]cornell[dot]edu). These forms are reviewed and completed once a week. Upon request, we will send you a confirmation email once we have sent out your certification.

If the school the student is applying to did not send a specific form but is asking for a letter related to academic standing, please forward the email to cals-studentservices [at] cornell.edu (cals-studentservices[at]cornell[dot]edu).

Release of Academic Information Form - Please contact CALS Student Services at 607-255-2257 or cals-studentservices [at] cornell.edu.