Graduation Honors

To be eligible for any academic award, students must have a clean disciplinary record and no recorded violations of academic integrity. Students’ conduct over the full duration of their academic careers at Yeshiva University must accord with the highest values of the institution.

Minimum credits in residence at Yeshiva University’s New York campuses required for Latin honors:
Bachelor’s degrees: 84 credits (72 credits for students who transfer to YU)
Katz Associate’s degrees: 54 credits

Honors at graduation are based on the cumulative GPA for courses taken in residence:
Cum Laude 3.500
Magna Cum Laude 3.700
Summa Cum Laude 3.850
*Yeshiva University maintains GPAs to three decimal places. No additional rounding will occur.

VALEDICTORIAN – SY SYMS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS – WILF
To encourage students to pick the best courses and activities on which to build their long-term careers and lives, the Sy Syms graduation-award criteria include both quantitative measures (e.g., GPA) and the qualitative factors described below:

Eligibility for Academic Awards:
Only students who have earned at least 75 credits on campus at the time of the decision are eligible. Courses in progress are not included in the 75 credits.

Only students graduating in that school year are eligible for awards. E.g., in Spring 2025, only graduates from September 2024, January 2025 and May 2025 are eligible. All Incomplete grades must be resolved for a student to be eligible for an award. W and P grades are factored into the assessment of the overall rigor of the student’s curriculum.

Refer to Sy Syms website for selection process.

VALEDICTORIAN – YESHIVA COLLEGE
The Academic Deans plus one member of the Faculty Executive Committee vet candidates on the basis of academic criteria including, but not limited to, the GPA. Any student with a W or

Incomplete grade is not considered for Valedictorian. Through this process 3-5 students are chosen who have the highest GPAs and at least 94 credits on campus.

The Executive Committee member and Deans invite these 3-5 students for an interview and a short presentation. The Executive Committee member and Deans vote on the valedictorian. Selection criteria include academic performance plus breadth. The valedictorian should be well rounded.

VALEDICTORIAN – STERN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
All grades listed on the SCW transcript including those from courses taken at YU graduate schools are entered into the overall GPA.

The student with the highest GPA, regardless of major, is designated SCW valedictorian provided she meets the stated minimum residency requirement (84 SCW on-campus credits and 6 semesters full-time).

In the event of a tie, the student with the most credits taken at YU in NY and listed on the SCW transcript is designated valedictorian.

Courses in progress are included in counting the total number of credits.

VALEDICTORIAN –REBECCA IVRY DEPARTMENT OF JEWISH STUDIES, STERN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
Student must be a Jewish Studies major.

All Jewish Studies grades listed on the SCW transcript, are entered into the Jewish Studies GPA.

The student with the highest GPA is designated valedictorian provided she has completed a minimum of 42 Jewish Studies credits at SCW and meets the stated minimum residency requirement (84 SCW on-campus credits and 6 semesters full-time).

In the event of a tie, the student with the highest number of JS credits at YU in NY and listed on the SCW transcript is designated valedictorian.
Courses in progress are included in counting the total number of credits.

VALEDICTORIAN – KATZ
Finalists for valedictorian of the Katz Associate Programs are identified prior to Commencement from the students with the top GPAs in the graduating class. The faculty, program director and advisers evaluate the finalists based on academic criteria as well as student involvement and other components of the student’s contribution to the campus community. Up to one valedictorian is chosen for the Beren Campus Katz Associate Programs and up to one valedictorian is chosen for the Wilf Campus Katz Associate Programs.

VALEDICTORIAN – UNDERGRADUATE TORAH STUDIES
One valedictorian is selected for each of the four Undergraduate Torah Studies programs.

Candidates are selected by the Deans and Faculty within each program. Selection criteria include - but is not limited to - (1) GPA within UTS courses (2) Character (3) Number of semesters in a specific UTS program or on campus (4) Level of difficulty of courses/shiurim taken. Finalists interview with the Dean before a final selection is made.