Honors, Honors, and More Honors

Graduating From The Honors College

Students who complete the requirements of The Honors College will graduate from The Honors College. As discussed in more detail in the pages about the honors curriculum, this usually entails completing 18 credits in honors courses (12 credits for those admitted during their first year at UAlbany), the honors program in a major, and a senior thesis or creative project. (A few majors at UAlbany do not offer an honors program. Students in these majors meet with Professor Haugaard and determine which courses they will complete to graduate from The Honors College. The website for each department at UAlbany describes whether that department offers an honors program in their major.)

Students who graduate from The Honors College have this noted on their transcript.  In addition, each honors courses is noted on a student's transcript.

Graduating With Honors in a Major

Students in a major that offers an honors program will graduate with honors in their major if they complete the requirements for doing so. This usually involves taking a specific set of courses (described in each department’s website) and completing a senior thesis or creative project. Students do not need to be in The Honors College to graduate with honors in their major. Consequently, students with a strong focus in a particular major who do not want to participate in and graduate from The Honors College should consider graduating with honors in their major but not from The Honors College.

Information about each department's honors program can be found on the website of The Honors College.

Since students in The Honors College who are in a major that offers an honors program must complete that program, they will graduate from The Honors College with honors in their major.

Graduating With Honors

Students who graduate with a high cumulative grade point average will graduate with honors. They are not required to take specific courses or complete the honors program in their major to graduate with honors. Students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher will graduate cum laude (from Latin for “with praise”). Those graduating with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher will graduate magna cum laude (“with great praise”). Those graduating with a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 will graduate summa cum laude (“with highest praise”).

Students in The Honors College with a qualifying cumulative grade point average can graduate from The Honors College, with honors in their major, and with honors. That’s a lot of honors!