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Graduation with Honors
Through the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, students can ultimately graduate from the
University of Colorado Boulder with Latin honors: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude.
Our requirements for graduating with honors are among the most rigorous and
most rewarding in the United States.
Graduation with Honors is a process that usually begins in
a student’s junior year. Students who wish to graduate with honors must write a thesis
of original research or creative work, work closely with a faculty
advisor,
and pass an oral defense of their thesis before a faculty committee. The Honors
Council, comprised of faculty from each department in the College
of Arts and Sciences, bestows final honors designations based on the quality of the research, scholarship or creative work, the written thesis, the oral defense and overall academic record.
Students who successfully write and defend their theses are honored at the Honors Convocation.
How to Get Started
First, you need an idea. The most important thing you need to have is an idea. And once you have your idea, you need to narrow it down. Your idea needs to be as focused as possible so that when you meet with your Honors Council Representative and possible thesis advisors and committee members, you can give them a clear presentation of your ideas and goals. With a clear picture of what you want to research, these faculty can effectively gauge whether or not they can help you or, in the case that they can’t, they’ll still be able to refer you to someone else on campus who is better equipped to help you.
Have your idea? Time to talk to someone about it.
- Students in the College of Arts and Sciences: you should get in touch with your department, and find out what requirements they have for students wishing to graduate with Latin honors. The Honors Program Office doesn’t keep track of requirements for all departments, so it’s crucial you go to your department first.
- If you are in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Architecture and Planning, the College of Music, Journalism and Mass Communication, or the Leeds School of Business, you'll need to stop by the Honors Program Office to ask about pursuing General Honors. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions about Graduation with Honors to learn more about General Honors.
At this point, you’re ready to read the Frequently Asked Questions about Graduation with Honors.
Reminder: all honors theses must have a title page and abstract!
The title page must include the following: the title of your thesis, your name, the date, and the names and
departments of your thesis advisor and committee members. Please also note which committee member is your thesis advisor.
The title on the archival (final) copy of your
thesis will be used in the Honors Convocation program as well as the university's thesis archive, so make sure you're happy with it. Note that the title must conform to MLA capitalization rules. For information about MLA rules, see Purdue's MLA
Formatting and Style Guide.
The abstract should be 100‐250 words and should address the following: Why did you undertake this
study or project? What did you do and how? What did you find? What do your findings mean?
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Forms, Deadlines and Information
We recommend that all students who are considering or actively pursuing Honors read our Frequently Asked Questions about Graduating with Honors.
This document, in concert with your department, should answer most if not all of your questions regarding the thesis process.
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