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Academic Honors
Dean's List
A full-time degree-seeking student in good academic standing who earns at least a 3.5 grade point average for a Fall or Spring semester with 12 or more GPA hours, no letter grade below C-, and no grade of Incomplete (I) is placed on the Dean's List in their school or college for that semester. Notation of the award is made on the student’s official transcript.
Graduation Honors
Honors in the Field of Specialization
Although specific requirements are determined by the faculty in the academic area offering the major, general requirements for honors candidates have been adopted by the faculty. Candidates for this honor shall have:
- attained a cumulative GPA of 3.30 in the courses of their field of specialization
- earned at least two semester hours of credit in independent study (may be waived by the major area faculty)
- passed an oral examination in the major and allied fields, conducted by a committee selected by the major faculty
Overall Honors
Sometimes called “Latin Honors”, three grades of honors are awarded to graduating seniors based on their cumulative scholarship attainment as evaluated upon completion of all requirements for the bachelor's degree. In order to be eligible for these honors, a senior must have earned a minimum of sixty credit hours at Alfred University (“Passed Hours”) with at least fifty “GPA Hours.”
- Summa cum laude, or highest honors - GPA of 3.90 and no grade below B
- Magna cum laude, or high honors - GPA of 3.70 and no grade below C
- Cum laude, or honors - GPA of 3.30
Alfred University Scholar
Students in the University Honors Program who earn at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA, successfully complete four Honors seminars, and complete and successfully defend an Honors Thesis project, and are deemed to be of good character will graduate with the designation "Alfred University Scholar."
Top Undergraduate Honors
The highest ranked graduating student in each undergraduate college or school will be selected by the Registrar using the following guidelines:
- a minimum of 60 “GPA Hours”
- grades received in all courses transferred to AU will be included in the calculation of a student’s “honors GPA” for this purpose only
- dual degree students may be honored for their work in either college or school
The top undergraduate students are seated on the Commencement platform and are recognized during the ceremony.
Prizes and Awards
In addition to the academic honors formally attained for outstanding scholarship, a number of prizes and awards are sponsored by individuals and organizations. These special and commemorative awards are presented annually during Honors Convocation.
Honor Societies
The following are University Honor Societies in various disciplines:
- Alpha Iota Delta – Decision Sciences
- Beta Gamma Sigma – Accredited Business Schools
- Chi Sigma Alpha - Student Affairs
- Chi Sigma Iota - Counseling
- Delta Mu Delta – Business Admin.
- Financial Management Association
- Keramos – Ceramic Engineering
- Mu Kappa Tau – Marketing
- Omicron Delta Upsilon – Economics
- Pacioli Society – Accounting
- Phi Alpha Theta – History
- Phi Beta Kappa – Liberal Arts
- Phi Kappa Phi – University-wide
- Phi Sigma Iota – International Languages
- Pi Gamma Mu – Social Sciences
- Pi Mu Epsilon - Mathematics
- Pi Sigma Alpha – Political Science
- Psi Chi – Psychology
- Sigma Tau Delta - English
- Tau Beta Pi – Engineering