The University awards degrees with honors to candidates who meet specified standards of academic excellence. Graduating seniors will be recommended for graduation with honors on the basis of their overall grade point average for all college-level work attempted. The overall GPA or all-college average includes all work attempted at the University of Georgia as well as all college-level transfer work attempted prior to or subsequent to matriculation at the University. Respective standards are as follows:

First Honor Graduates

Each student completing a baccalaureate degree with an overall grade point average of 4.0 will be designated a First Honor Graduate. The overall grade point average or all-college average includes all work attempted at the University of Georgia as well as all college-level transfer work attempted prior to or subsequent to matriculation at the University.

First Honors Graduates wear a fourragère (braided cord) on their left shoulder as part of their graduation academic regalia.

Please note: Because grades for the current semester are not available during the time that commencement programs are being produced and on the day of Commencement, honors designations (including First Honor Graduates) are based on the grade point average earned through the previous academic term. To allow for changes in honors designations due to current term grades, the respective standards are lowered five hundredths (0.05) of a grade point for the purposes of the program and assignment of honors tassels only. Final academic honor graduates for each semester are selected after grades have been submitted. Final, official honor designations will be included on diplomas and transcripts.