Honors

Graduation with Honors

There are three types of honors at graduation: to graduate with University Honors, with Liberal Arts Honors, and with departmental honors.

Cords are given out on the departmental and program level; the College does not track or distribute additional items. If desired, please contact any organizations that you have been a part of to see if they offer cords or additional stoles to graduates. 

University Honors

To be eligible to graduate with University honors, an undergraduate must have completed at least sixty semester hours at the University of Texas at Austin. Graduation with University honors is based on the average of all grades earned in courses taken in residence at the University, whether the courses were passed, failed, or repeated. Courses taken pass/fail are counted in the sixty-hour minimum, but only letter grades (including Fs in pass/fail courses) are used to determine the grade point average.

The grade point averages established for May graduates are applied to the following August and December classes to determine honors, high honors, and highest honors.

Honors Rank: top 20%
High Honors Rank: top 10%
Highest Honors Rank: top 4%

Please note honors and degrees announced at spring commencement ceremonies and presented in corresponding programs are projections based on the previous year's minimums and students' GPAs after the fall semester. Actual honors and credentials earned are determined during degree certification which occurs after commencement weekend.