Academic Honors

In determining an undergraduate student's eligibility for academic recognition and honors, only institution credit and grades earned in Rice University courses are considered.

Rice University recognizes outstanding undergraduate students with the following academic honors:

• President's Honor Roll
• University Honors
• Ranking and Top 10 Percent

President's Honor Roll

The President's Honor Roll, published during Week 6 of the Fall and Spring semesters, is recognition of an undergraduate’s outstanding academic achievement that particular semester. Based on semester GPA, approximately the top 30 percent of all undergraduates receive this academic recognition. This President’s Honor Roll designation is placed on the student’s academic transcript for the appropriate semester.

To be eligible for the President's Honor Roll, students must meet the following requirements:

• Undergraduate students must meet the minimum GPA that is calculated from approximately the top 30 percent of all eligible undergraduate GPAs.
• Undergraduate students must have grades, exclusive of Pass/Fail and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, in a total of 12 or more semester (GPA) hours and must not have any grade of F or U.
• Students with temporary grades, such as OT and INC are not eligible until those grades have been converted. Please consult the academic calendar for term-specific temporary grade deadlines.
• Undergraduates enrolled in four-year bachelor's degree programs are always eligible for the Honor Roll.
• Students enrolled in five-year bachelor's/master's programs are eligible only during their first eight semesters.

Please Note: Undergraduate students who are awarded the President's Honor Roll designation and no longer meet the eligibility requirements for any reason are removed from the President's Honor Roll.

The minimum GPA requirements to qualify for the President’s Honor Roll are as follows:

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University Honors

Latin Honors

Unlike the President's Honor Roll, which recognizes academic excellence achieved over a single semester, eligibility for the three categories of Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) are based on the cumulative grade point average for all undergraduate work at Rice.

At the end of the Spring semester and after receipt of all grades, graduating undergraduate recipients are determined by the following procedure:

• summa cum laude — the grade point average within the highest five percent of the year's graduating majors within each school is recommended for the honor.
• magna cum laude — the grade point average included within the next highest ten percent is used to determine those eligible to graduate with the honor.
• cum laude — the grade point average included within the next fifteen percent is used to determine those students eligible to graduate with the honor.

Thus, approximately 30 percent of each graduating class, distributed approximately evenly across all schools, receives Latin Honors upon graduation.

The following table lists the minimum GPA for Latin Honors in Academic Year 2012-2013:

Distinction in Research and Creative Work

Distinction in Research and Creative Work is a university award for select undergraduates, granted at commencement, which appears on the transcript and diploma. Students must apply within their department or program to be considered for the award and the application must be supported by a letter from a faculty member.

Eligibility for the award extends widely to include a variety of research, design, and other creative projects, as well as persistent dedication to research. Projects completed in part or entirely at other institutions or with community partners will be eligible for consideration.

Applicants must be in good academic standing and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 in courses completed at Rice. The award will be granted only to projects that produce a concrete outcome--e.g. an essay, invention, design, musical composition--and demonstrate commitment and/or achievement above and beyond the norm. Students who complete senior theses, senior design projects or other required senior capstone projects shall not qualify automatically for consideration for this university distinction.

Responsibility for judging applications and determining those that merit the distinction award rests with the undergraduate degree programs or departments. Departments publish annually clear expectations and criteria for the research and design projects that will be considered for the award, as well as guidelines for what constitutes research work above and beyond the norm within their respective fields. Departments may designate additional requirements as well, such as completion of a research seminar or oral defense.