Superior Academic Achievement

The University recognizes superior academic achievement in a variety of ways. Among these are appointment to the dean’s list, receipt of the President’s Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement, the granting of degrees with distinction, graduation with honors, election to honorary and professional societies, and the awarding of prizes.

Dean’s List

Undergraduates who successfully complete no less than 3.0 course credits during the semester and who earn a semester grade point average of 3.50 or higher receive dean’s list honors for that semester.

President’s Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement

Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, and graduating seniors with a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 receive the President’s Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement.

Degrees with Distinction 

Degrees with distinction are awarded to bachelor’s degree candidates who have taken 30 percent or more of the number of courses required for graduation in courses numbered above 199.

For the purposes of the commencement ceremony, medallions worn to identify degrees with distinction will be based on a student’s cumulative GPA at the end of their last completed semester.  Degrees with distinction are officially awarded at the time a degree is conferred and noted on a student’s diploma and official transcript.

Additional requirements for graduation with distinction are as follows:

A degree Summa Cum Laude is awarded to a candidate who has achieved at the time of graduation a grade point average of 3.90 or higher, and who has been in residence at Bucknell University for at least three years. (That is, having earned at least 24 Bucknell course credits.)

A degree Magna Cum Laude is awarded to a candidate who has achieved at the time of graduation a grade point average between 3.70 and 3.89, and who has been in residence at Bucknell University for at least three years. (That is, having earned at least 24 Bucknell course credits.)

A degree Cum Laude is awarded to a candidate who has achieved at the time of graduation a grade point average between 3.50 and 3.69.

Honors Program

All academic departments and interdisciplinary majors of the University offer the possibility of departmental honors, coordinated through the University Honors Council, in which students in those majors may undertake special studies or investigations.

The honors program also operates within the special programs known as the College Major and the Interdepartmental Major.

Students interested in departmental honors should consult the heads of the departments and must apply for honors in accordance with the procedures established by the Honors Council.

Honorary, Recognition and Professional Societies

Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national honorary scholarship society in America; Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honorary scholarship society; and Beta Gamma Sigma, the international management honorary scholarship society, are active on the campus. Phi Beta Kappa members are elected from the upper eighth of the junior class and the upper fifth of the senior class. Beta Gamma Sigma members are elected from the upper tenth of the junior and senior class.

There is a chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honorary scholastic society for first-year students.

Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board, national recognition societies for juniors and seniors, select their members for excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.

There are also chapters of the following national honor societies:

Alpha Chi Sigma (chemistry)
Alpha Psi Omega (theatre)
Chi Epsilon (civil engineering)
Eta Sigma Phi (classics & ancient Mediterranean studies)
Kappa Delta Pi (education)
Omicron Delta Epsilon (economics)
Phi Sigma (biology)
Phi Sigma Tau (philosophy)
Pi Mu Epsilon (mathematics)
Pi Sigma Alpha (political science)
Psi Chi (psychology)
Sigma Iota Rho (international studies)
Sigma Pi Sigma (physics)
Theta Alpha Kappa (religious studies)

Professional societies with chapters on the Bucknell University campus are: the Society of Automotive Engineers; the National Society of Black Engineers; the American Chemical Society; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the Association for Computing Machinery; the Association for Computing Machinery Council for Women; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists; the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and the Society of Women Engineers.