Undergraduate Honors and Honor Society
Undergraduate degree (ALB) candidates with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.33 or higher graduate cum laude (with honors).
The top 10 percent of the ALB graduating class in good standing (with no prior or pending disciplinary actions such probation or requirements to withdraw due to misconduct or academic integrity infractions) is inducted into the Harvard Extension School’s Phi Beta chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for nontraditional students.
Dean’s List Academic Achievement Award
ALB candidates with GPAs of 3.5 or higher and ALM candidates with 3.8 or higher earn the Dean’s List Academic Achievement Award.
Prizes
For all prizes, recipients must be in good academic standing with no prior or pending disciplinary actions such probation or requirements to withdraw due to misconduct or academic integrity infractions.
Prizes are awarded to graduates in their graduation year by senior members of the Extension School academic administration and instructors.
The prizes that require student submissions are the Commencement Speaker Prize, Derek Bok Public Service Prize, Harold V. Langlois Award, and Katie Y. F. Yang Prize.
Annamae and Allan R. Crite Prize. ALM (liberal arts fields), digital media design, museum studies or ALB graduates who concentrated their course work in visual arts or other artistic fields are eligible to be considered for this award, which is granted on the basis of academic achievement and dedication to learning and the arts.
Dean’s Prize for Outstanding ALM Thesis. Awarded in biology, biotechnology/bioengineering, creative writing and literature, English, government, international relations, mathematics for teaching, psychology, software engineering, and sustainability as well as humanities (dramatic arts or religion) and social sciences (anthropology or history), this award recognizes the thesis research that embodies the highest level of scholarship.
Director’s Prize for Outstanding ALM Thesis. Runner-up option for the dean’s thesis prize. Awarded in the same fields as the dean’s thesis prize, but only occasionally.
Dean’s Prize for Outstanding ALM Capstone. Awarded in biotechnology, creative writing and literature, data science, digital media design, global development practice, journalism, mathematics for teaching, museum studies, and sustainability, this award recognizes work that embodies the highest level of scholarship.
Derek Bok Public Service Prize. This Commencement award recognizes creative initiatives in community service or long-standing records of civic achievement among graduates. Interested undergraduate and master’s graduates should submit the Derek Bok Service Prize form. The application deadline is the first Monday in March at 5 PM to the commencement email box (Commencement@Extension.Harvard.edu).
The Harold V. Langlois Award. This award recognizes an ALM management or finance graduate who has demonstrated exceptional academic accomplishment and promise as a manager. Candidates graduating with 4.0 GPA will be invited to apply for this award.
Harvard Extension Commencement Speaker Prize. During their graduation year, bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates are invited to enter the Commencement speaker competition to deliver the student speech at the HES diploma awarding ceremony. See our speech guidelines. Speech submissions are due by the first Monday in March at 5 PM to the commencement email box (Commencement@Extension.Harvard.edu).
Harvard University Commencement Speaker Prize. ALB and ALM graduates can participate in the Orations Competition and deliver the prize-winning speech at the morning Commencement exercise in Harvard Yard to an audience of 30,000. The application process ordinarily begins in early March and ends late April.
The Katie Y.F. Yang Prize. This prize is awarded annually to the international ALM management graduate for academic achievement and character. Candidates graduating with 4.0 GPA will be invited to apply for this award.
Reginald H. Phelps Prize. Three prizes are awarded to ALB graduates for academic achievement and character.
Santo J. Aurelio Prize. Awarded to an ALB degree recipient aged 50 or older, this prize acknowledges distinguished and unique records of academic achievement and character.
Thomas Small Prize. Two prizes are awarded to ALM graduates (liberal arts fields) for academic achievement and character.
