Graduation Honors
Degrees with honors of cum laude, magna cum
laude, and summa cum laude are granted. A student must earn a
cumulative grade point average of 3.50 for cum laude, 3.75 for magna
cum laude, and 3.90 for summa cum laude (Applicable to undergraduate level only).
Graduation honors are determined by the cumulative grade point average of all PLU coursework (defined as courses taught by PLU faculty for PLU). Students must complete a minimum of 64 semester hours at PLU to be eligible for graduation honors. Study Away courses at a PLU-approved program count towards the 64-hour minimum, but do not count towards graduation honors unless the courses are taught by PLU faculty. Term honors will be determined on the same basis as graduation honors.
Dean's List
A Dean's List is created at the end of Fall and Spring Semesters.
To be eligible, a student must have attained a semester grade point
average of 3.50 with a minimum of 12 graded-semester hours (Applicable to undergraduates only).
Honor Societies:
Election to the Areté Society is a
special recognition of a student's commitment to the liberal arts
together with a record of high achievement in relevant course work. The
society was organized in 1969 by Phi Beta Kappa members of the faculty
to encourage and recognize excellent scholarship in the liberal arts.
Student members are elected by the faculty fellows of the society each
spring. Both juniors and seniors are eligible; however, the
qualifications for election as a junior are more stringent. Students
must have:
- attained a high grade point average (for seniors, normally above 3.70; for juniors, normally above 3.90),
- completed 110 credit hours in liberal studies,
- demonstrated the equivalent of two years of college work in a foreign language,
- completed one year of college mathematics (including statistics or computer science) or four years of college preparatory mathematics in high school and one college mathematics course,
- completed a minimum of three semesters in residence at the university.
- Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting)
- Alpha Kappa Delta (Sociology)
- Alpha Psi Omega (Theatre)
- Beta Gamma Sigma (Business)
- Mu Phi Epsilon (Music)
- Phi Alpha (Social Work)
- Pi Kappa Delta (Forensics)
- Psi Chi (Psychology)
- Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics)
- Sigma Theta Tau International (Nursing)
- Sigma Xi (Scientific Research)