Recognition of Academic Excellence

Cal State L.A. recognizes superior academic achievement by conferring honors upon students with outstanding records at an annual spring Honors Convocation and at the Commencement Exercises.

Recognition is accorded at the annual Honors Convocation to undergraduate students placed on the Dean’s List, those who were awarded Honors at Entrance and members of the General Education Honors Program. Students receiving Special Recognition in Graduate Studies are also honored. Also recognized at the Honors Convocation are recipients of academic scholarship awards and juniors and seniors elected to membership in national honor societies. The requirements for Honors at Entrance, Dean’s List, and Certificate of Honor and Special Recognition in Graduate Studies awards are as follows:

Honors at Entrance

First-time freshmen who enter with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on their high school record.

Dean’s List

Undergraduate who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in 12 or more units of graded course work in one semester are named to the Dean’s List. Students who receive NC for any coursework in the semester under consideration are not eligible to be named to the Dean’s List for that semester. 

Graduation with Honors

Baccalaureate graduates of Cal State L.A. who maintain an outstanding scholarship record while earning the degree receive special recognition upon graduation. Ten percent of the graduates in each college will receive honors: the top 1% will receive summa cum laude, the next 4% will receive magna cum laude, and the next 5% will receive cum laude. These percentages will be calculated only once for each academic year. The academic year is defined as summer, fall,  and spring terms. At the beginning of each summer term, grade point average requirements for graduation with honors will be set by the Registrar’s office. These averages will be determined for each college by applying existing policy to students who have graduated during the past three years.* During the following three terms all students attaining these minimum grade point averages will be awarded the corresponding honors at graduation independent of how many students received such honors. Special majors will be included in the competition pool for honors at graduation computation in the college in which they have earned the most units toward their special major. Rehabilitation services majors in the Charter College of Education will be included in the College of Health and Human Services for competition for honors at graduation. Students pursuing an advanced degree or a teaching credential are not eligible for such honors.

^{*Detailed method: The Registrar will look at grade point averages for every student who graduated in a particular college during the past three years. The percentage cutoffs in the current policy (i.e., 1% for summa cum laude, 4% for magna cum laude and 5% for cum laude) will be applied to this combined group to determine grade point average cutoffs for each school.}

Departmental Honors Programs

Further recognition of academic excellence is accorded through Cal State L.A.’s departmental honors programs, offered presently in anthropology, biology, chemistry, child development, physics, and sociology. Students who maintain a superior grade point average and have faculty recommendation are permitted to enroll in an honors program in their elected major. Considerable freedom is provided students and their advisers in designing enriched programs of study. This may include deviation from traditional course patterns to permit additional work in subjects related to the major, more intensive study in subject areas of special interest, and participation in special colloquia, independent study, individual research, and honors theses.

Students who complete these honors programs receive citations of departmental honors on their transcripts and diplomas.

National Honor Societies

Chapters of more than twenty national honor societies have been chartered at Cal State L.A. to accord recognition to students who demonstrate superior scholarship and leadership in academic areas. A specific minimum grade point average, ranging from 3.0 to 3.85, is required for initiation into each of these honor societies.

Career Placement Information

The campus may furnish, upon request, information about the employment of students who graduate from programs or courses of study preparing students for a particular career field. Any such data provided must be in a form that does not allow for the identification of any individual student. This information includes data concerning the average starting salary and the percentage of previously enrolled students who obtained employment. The information may include data collected from either graduates of the campus or graduates of all campuses in the California State University system. Copies of the published information are available in the Cal State L.A. Office of University Admissions, Student Affairs 101.