<p>I know that Tufts raised the thresholds for cum laude, magna and summa about five years ago.
Does anyone have any idea what percentage of the Class of 2013 graduated with each of these honors, or even what total percentage of students received some level of Latin honors?</p>
<p><a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/faculty/committees/liberal/academicStanding/annualReports/academicStanding_2010-2011.pdf[/url]”>Faculty Committees | Office of the Secretary of the Faculty - Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; (last available report)</p>
<p>Looks like summa cum laude was awarded to about 10% of the arts and sciences graduating class in 2011, which seems about right from my recollection of the commencement phase II ceremonies I attended this year.</p>
<p>[Arts</a> and Sciences honors requirements tightened - News - Tufts Daily - Tufts University](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5511/arts-and-sciences-honors-requirements-tightened-1.598932#.UZzriIeyBjQ]Arts”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5511/arts-and-sciences-honors-requirements-tightened-1.598932#.UZzriIeyBjQ) has a bit more detail, but that’s significantly out of date. I’m sure if you went through the archives of the faculty meetings you could probably find more information.</p>
<p>^^I knew that they tightened/raised the requirements for Latin honors in or about 2008.
They had found that more than 50% of the students were graduating with some sort of Latin honors, which seemed excessive to them. (Apparently, Harvard had way more than that, but most schools had a materially lower percentage.) The objective was to bring the number closer to 40-42%, but I haven’t seen anything that reflected the post-change data.<br>
I personally thought that Tufts was on the high side in terms of the total percentage receiving Latin honors (even at 40-42%), and 10% for summa cum laude - which I suspect remains pretty accurate - also sounds like a high percentage to be receiving the highest distinction (as compared to many other schools).
So, assuming that the summa number is, indeed, about 10%, does anyone have any idea regarding what percentage receives magna cum laude and/or cum laude honors?</p>