Academic Honors
Following the end of the fall and spring semesters, the provost announces the names of semester undergraduate students who were enrolled full-time and achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or above.
Note: Preparatory classes are not used in the calculation of the dean's list.
The Lindenwood faculty awards general honors to those undergraduate students who have completed all degree requirements with academic distinction. In order to be eligible for general honors, a student must have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours in residence at the Lindenwood University system. (Transferred credits and experiential learning credits do not count toward in-residence credit hours.) A student whose Lindenwood University system cumulative GPA falls within certain ranges are eligible for honors as follows:
- The student who achieves a cumulative GPA between 3.70 and 3.85 receives the degree cum laude.
- The student who achieves a cumulative GPA between 3.86 and 3.93 receives the degree magna cum laude.
- The student who achieves a cumulative GPA of 3.94 or above receives the degree summa cum laude.
Note: Graduate students are not awarded general honors.
Lindenwood University embraces community service as an extension of service learning, in which students participate in community service not only to meet the needs of the community, but also to develop their critical thinking ability, commitment to values, and skills for effective citizenship.
Students who complete 500 hours of qualified community service during their time at Lindenwood will receive a designation on their permanent academic transcript to recognize their achievement. In addition, they will receive special recognition in commencement publications and receive a service cord they can wear at graduation.
Once membership is approved, students can begin logging community service hours that will be approved on an ongoing basis. Graduating seniors must have achieved 500 documented, approved hours at least 60 days before their graduation date to allow time for verification and inclusion in graduation publications.
University Honors are reserved for exceptional students who demonstrate intelligence, initiative, and perseverance in fulfilling requirements beyond those asked of others. Meeting these expectations exhibits the students’ commitment to excellence; such students are members of the university’s Honors College.
The Honors College offers semester undergraduate students a special opportunity to be recognized for excellence and extra effort in their coursework. Graduating with such honors is the highest award Lindenwood bestows. This achievement is announced at graduation and recipients wear purple braids at the ceremony. “University Honors” also appears on the student’s diploma and transcript. All courses completed for honors credit are designated as such on the student’s transcript.
To apply for membership in the Honors College, an incoming freshman must score a 29 or above on the ACT. Incoming honors students may take up to 19 credit hours in their first term without being charged an overload fee. A transferring or returning student must have a 3.3 GPA to apply for honors courses.
Any undergraduate course may be taken for honors credit with the permission of the professor. To earn honors credit in a non-honors section, students must successfully complete an extra project mutually agreed upon by the professor and student and earn an A in the course. Some students are eligible to register early due to their status as honors students. Early registration for honors students is contingent on having four honors courses completed by the beginning of the junior year and six honors courses completed by the beginning of the senior year.
To graduate with University Honors, a student must complete 24 hours of honors credit. To do so, a student may either (a) enroll in up to 12 hours of 10000-level honors sections and earn the remaining 12 hours of honors credit in traditional courses, level 30000 or above, taken for honors credit or (b) enroll in six hours of traditional 10000-level courses for honors credit and earn the remaining 18 hours of credit in traditional courses taken for honors credit at or above the 20000-level.