Graduation Honors

Academic honors appear on the graduation program, diploma and transcript.  In addition, the honors are read when the students' names are called to receive their diplomas on stage and are posted on the Registrar Web site.

Undergraduate

To be eligible for graduation honors, a student seeking a baccalaureate degree must enroll in and complete a minimum of 45 undergraduate semester hours at St. Mary's University, not including Pass/No Pass or credit by exam courses, preceding graduation. The grade-point-average (GPA) of all college hours attempted, excluding transfer hours, must equal that required here for the appropriate category of honors. Honors are not conferred on combination degrees or on second degrees.

Graduate

Distinguished graduates are:

• students who receive a favorable recommendation from their Graduate Program Director;
• students who graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.9 or higher; and, 
• students who have not received a grade of U or a grade below B, even if they have repeated the course with a grade of S, B, or A.

Distinguished graduates may pick-up a distinguished graduate medallion from the Graduate Admission Office in the Reinbolt Hall, Room 105.

Distinguished graduate requirements subject to change.

For further information, contact the Graduate School at (210) 436-3101.

Law

Upon graduation, students who rank in the top two percent of their class are graduated summa cum laude, those who rank in the top five percent of their class are graduated magna cum laude, and those who rank in the top ten percent of their class are graduated cum laude. This determination is made in the Spring semester for the entire class (including students who graduate earlier in the academic year). The appropriate designation is included on a student's diploma and is announced during the graduation ceremony. For further information, contact the Law School at (210) 436-3531.