Graduation with Latin honors

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 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

Registering and Defending a Thesis

Once your department has approved your project, you will register it with our office. Please download and complete the registration form for the semester in which you intend to defend your thesis, and be sure to turn it in by the indicated deadline. For detailed information on the thesis process, how to get started, and how to schedule your timelines, download the Honors Thesis - Getting Started handout.

Registration requires our one-page form as well as 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 registration form is not an application – your Honors Council representative's signature is the approval for your project. We will not contact you regarding your registration form.

If you need to make changes to your committee after you've submitted your registration form, please email or call our office to let us know (303-492-6617) or email honors@colorado.edu.

Registration Form and Deadlines Schedule

Please turn in your completed registration packet in person to the Honors Program office in Norlin M400M by 4pm on the day the registration period closes at the latest. Early submissions are welcome.

Spring 2020 Deadlines: The registration period to defend in Spring 2020 is closed

Fall 2020 Registration Form and Fall 2020 Deadlines: The registration period to defend in Fall 2020 closes on April 28, 2020

Spring 2021 Registration Form and Spring 2021 Deadlines: The registration period to defend in Spring 2021 closes on October 6, 2020

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 student's major department. 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 we work with most of the departments within the College of Arts and Sciences, your Honors Council representative is the best source of information when it comes to your defense. That said, we have some notes:

You don't need to tell us when you're defending - that's between you and your committee.
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 submit a printed defense copy to the Honors Program office 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.

The defense copy is a printed version of the thesis you defended in front of your committee. This is the version that we will use for consideration of Latin honors.

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).

Please drop off a printed and stapled/clipped (unbound) copy to our office by the deadline. Double-sided printing is preferred. If you are defending after 4pm on the last day, please drop off your defense copy prior to defending. If you defend prior to the last day, please turn in your defense copy at that time.

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 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 printed defense copy that you turn in to Norlin M400M - 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. Be sure to use this link to ensure it is uploaded to the correct repository within CU Scholar.

If you need to make changes to your uploaded thesis, you can do so for a limited time via a link that is emailed to you after submission. Theses will be approved for posting to CU Scholar within four weeks.

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 award 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 Latin honors are separate from Distinction.

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

Click "Look for more" to see future months

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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

Click "Look for more" to see future months