Graduation with Latin honors

Join us in recognizing our Spring 2021 Latin honors awardees' amazing achievements!

Writing and defending an Honors Thesis to be considered for Latin honors

The Arts and Sciences Honors Program, in coordination with departments within the College of Arts and Sciences, gives qualified undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences the opportunity to write and defend an honors thesis in an attempt to graduate with Latin honors: cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. Most students undertake a thesis project within their major (Departmental Honors), but there is also an interdisciplinary option (General Honors).

Students typically begin working on an honors thesis project in the junior year and defend their thesis in the senior year. Our thesis process is one of the most rigorous in the nation, which means that students who graduate with honors (between four to seven percent of each graduating class) have successfully gone above and beyond their peers not only at CU Boulder but nationwide. Students who earn Latin honors are recognized at the Honors Convocation.

Please plan ahead – you will need to register your thesis project with our office the semester prior to the one in which you plan to defend. For more details on registering and defending your thesis, please click through the information below.

For answers to commonly asked questions, read our Latin honors FAQ.

Departmental Honors

Interested in writing a thesis in your College of Arts and Sciences major? You'll start the process by contacting your department.
Learn your department's requirements

General Honors

Have you taken at least four Honors Program courses? Is your Arts and Sciences thesis idea interdisciplinary? Consider General Honors.
Read the General Honors requirements

Other Deadlines of Note

If you plan to do research on human subjects, you will need to secure IRB approval. Click here to see if you will need IRB approval. If you do, be sure to visit their "Review timelines and meeting dates" for deadline information.

If you plan to apply for research (UROP) funding, please click here for details. Please be aware that proposals for Summer 2022 and Academic Year 2022-23 term funding will be due mid-February 2022.

Registering and Defending a Thesis

Once your department has approved your project, you will register online. Please be sure to complete the online registriation by the indicated deadline for the semester you intend to defend. For detailed information on the thesis process, how to get started, and how to schedule your timelines, download the Honors Thesis - Getting Started handout.

When completing the online registration, you will be asked to upload a prospectus, planned timeline of your work, and a preliminary bibliography containing some initial sources. The formats of these are set by your department.

Our online registration process is not an application – your Honors Council representative's agreement to serve on your committee is the approval for your project. We may contact you to verify, modify, or correct aspects of your registration as needed.

If you need to make changes to your committee after you've submitted your registration form, please email honors@colorado.edu and let us know.

Registration Form and Deadlines Schedule

Please submit your online registration by 4pm on the day the registration period closes at the latest. Early submissions are welcome!

We have a new process for submitting thesis registration packets. DO NOT use the old registration forms; you must submit your registration using the new online process below. If you have questions, please email honors@colorado.edu.

The registration period to defend in Fall 2021 closed on April 27th, 2021. Please find Fall 2021 Thesis Deadlines here

Registering for a Spring 2022 defense:

WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED A NEW ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM. To register your Spring 2022 thesis, please click here and complete the online process. As this is a new process, we welcome feedback!
The registration period to defend in Spring 2022 closes on October 5th, 2021
If you would like to watch a tutorial on how to fill out the online form and what to expect, please click here
Please contact us with any questions or feedback at honors@colorado.edu or by calling 303-492-6617. We will not accept registration packets submitted via email; you must use the online submission form.
Please review and download the Spring 2022 Thesis Deadlines

Fall 2022 Thesis Deadlines

Spring 2023 Thesis Deadlines

Thesis Committees

Thesis committees are typically composed of a thesis advisor from the student's major department, an Honors Council representative from the student's major department, and a third committee member from outside the major department in which the student is writing their thesis. Thesis committee makeup can vary, but committees must always include at least three eligible members of the CU Boulder faculty (see Thesis Committee Policy below) in the roles of thesis advisor, Honors Council representative, and outside/third reader.

Thesis Committee Eligibility Requirements

Thesis committees require at least three members of the CU Boulder faculty. To be eligible to serve on a thesis committee one must be a regular full-time faculty member or a multi-year contract instructor involved in an instructional program at the University of Colorado Boulder. In terms of rank, this means Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Senior Instructor, or Instructor. Graduate students are not eligible to serve.

Because there can be differences in department guidelines for scheduling and presenting a defense, your Honors Council representative is the best source of information. That said, we have some notes:

You don't need to tell us when you're defending - that's between you and your committee. Just make sure you've scheduled it on, or preferably before, the last day to defend.
It is up to you to schedule a date, time and location for your defense. For assistance in reserving a room, please reach out to your Honors Council Representative.
Bring a current copy of your unofficial transcript to your defense.
Don't wait too long to schedule your defense, and try not to schedule your defense on the very last day to defend.
You must email your defense copy in PDF format to the Honors Program after defending. Please see "The Defense Copy" tab for details.
If you decide not to defend your thesis, or want to defer your defense to another semester, please let us know. There are no penalties, and you'll get fewer emails from us.

Your defense committee is forbidden from sharing their decision with you at your defense. You will learn about any honors you earn via email after the Honors Council meets to officially confer honors designations. For exact dates, consult the deadlines sheet for the semester you defend.

Still have questions? Please don't hesitate to ask - we are happy to help! You can stop by Norlin M400M, email honors@colorado.edu, or call 303-492-6617.

The defense copy is the version of your thesis you defended in front of your committee. It should be saved in PDF format and the filename should use the format “Lastname Firstname Defense Copy.pdf”. This is the version of your thesis that we will use for consideration of Latin honors. Please note the following requirements for the title page:

Title Page Requirements

Title pages must include the thesis title, your name, your defense date, your thesis advisor's name and department, your Honors Council representative's name and department, and the names and departments of your other committee member(s).

Once you've defended, email the PDF version of your defense to honors@colorado.edu. If you defend prior to the last day, you should send in your defense copy as soon as you defend. If you defend on the last day (Please see the appropriate Thesis Deadlines document for dates), you can defend as late as you and your committee wish, but you must send a copy of your defense to honors@colorado.edu by 4pm. As a reminder, your defense copy is the one you submit to your committee members on the day you defend. Do not modify your defense copy after your defense. If your committee suggests changes, you may make those changes if you wish and submit the updated version to CU Scholar as your final copy; however it is the defense copy that is used to determine Latin honors.

Because the Honors Program coordinates Latin honors for so many departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, we do not set thesis format requirements outside of the title page; we know that theses from Theatre, Biochemistry, History, Physics or Anthropology will probably all look very different. Students should use the style manual or guide appropriate to their discipline. If you don't know the style guide your discipline uses, ask your Honors Council representative. You can also look at the Undergraduate Honors Theses repository on CU Scholar for examples.

During your defense, your committee might suggest changes to your thesis. You have until the "Final Copy" due date to make any changes you wish (do not make changes to the defense copy you email to the Honors Program - see "The Defense Copy" tab for details). Any changes you make to your final copy will not be considered when determining your Latin honors designation.

Once you've completed any changes, upload the final copy of your thesis to the Undergraduate Honors Theses Repository on CU Scholar by our final copy deadline. CU Scholar has recently undergone a software upgrade. Under the new system, If you need to make changes to your uploaded thesis, you either need to ask the CU Scholar administrator to make the changes, or resubmit your thesis. In either case, please email honors@colorado.edu to facilitate it. Because of these changes, we suggest waiting to upload your thesis until you feel confident you've completed all changes. Theses will be approved for posting to CU Scholar within four weeks after the deadline.

The Honors Council, a body of faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences, convenes for a two-day period in both April and November to confer honors designations. On the first day, theses and honors recommendations are discussed by a subcommittee of the Honors Council for the student's division (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and General Honors). The second day involves further discussion, this time by the entire Honors Council, who then officially awards honors. Honors designations are later distributed to students via their CU Boulder email address. Any honors designations earned appear on a student's transcript and diploma. Please note that graduating with Latin honors is different than graduating with Distinction. For more information, please see the "Academic Excellence" tab under the university's Undergraduate Policies and Requirements page.

Students who successfully complete the thesis process and earn Latin honors are recognized at our Honors Convocation ceremony.

We hold two convocation ceremonies per year; one in the spring and one in the fall. If you graduate in the summer or fall and plan to walk in the campus-wide Spring Commencement Ceremony, you are welcome to attend the Spring Honors Convocation ceremony that spring as well.

Please be aware that some students experience scheduling conflicts between their major department events and our convocation ceremony, so keep that in mind when you're deciding which Honors ceremony you wish to attend. You will be sent an invitation to RSVP about a week after you receive an email notifying you of your honors designation; please let us know at that time what your plans are.

If you choose not to attend any of the Honors convocation ceremonies, you are welcome to pick up your medal and certificate once that semester's convocation ceremony is complete. Please contact the Honors Program office at 303-492-6617 or honors@colorado.edu for details.

Graduation with Latin honors

Writing and defending an Honors Thesis to be considered for Latin honors

Departmental Honors

General Honors

Registering and Defending a Thesis

Registration Form and Deadlines Schedule

Thesis Resources

Honors Thesis Dates

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Graduation with Latin honors

Writing and defending an Honors Thesis to be considered for Latin honors

Departmental Honors

General Honors

Registering and Defending a Thesis

Registration Form and Deadlines Schedule

Thesis Resources

Honors Thesis Dates