The discussion comes as students continue to debate on PUP Latin honors policy.
An anonymous post from a Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) student has sparked discussion online after calling on the university to relax its Latin honors requirements, reigniting debate over whether academic distinctions should be more attainable or remain highly exclusive.
Posted on the PUP Sta. Mesa Freedom Wall, the student expressed frustration over missing the current cutoff for Latin honors despite having no grade lower than 2.50.
“I just hope the Student Handbook changes the Latin honors requirement. It’s only up to 1.600. Even if you don’t have a grade lower than 2.50, it’s still hard to qualify because some professors rarely give high grades,” the student wrote, adding that PUP should consider raising the Cum Laude cutoff to 1.75, similar to other universities.
Under the PUP 2019 Student Handbook, students must obtain the following General Weighted Average (GWA) to graduate with Latin honors:
- Summa Cum Laude: 1.0000–1.1500
- Magna Cum Laude: 1.1501–1.3500
- Cum Laude: 1.3501–1.6000
The current policy is significantly stricter than the university’s previous handbook, which allowed students with a GWA of up to 1.75 to graduate Cum Laude.
According to previous dialogues between university officials and student leaders, the tighter honor brackets were introduced to preserve the prestige and rigor of Latin honors after administrators observed that exceptionally large portions of graduating classes in some campuses would have qualified under the old system. In one cited example, officials said nearly 90% of a graduating batch in a branch campus would have received Latin honors if the previous thresholds had remained in place.
Aside from meeting the required GWA, students must also have no final grade lower than 2.50 and no unresolved INC or withdrawn (W) marks to qualify for Latin honors.
The Freedom Wall post drew mixed reactions from fellow students.
Some sympathized with the anonymous student.
“Sana qualified din nila yung SAAET. Deserve din naman, mas mahirap pa nga,” one commenter wrote.
Another said, “Aray sa mga transferee pero nasa PUP na since first year.”
Others, however, defended the university’s stricter standards.
“To make it a prestigious distinction, the cutoff needs to be higher. It loses its prestige if almost everyone graduates with Latin honors. Anyway, it won’t make you less of a person, and it won’t stop you from succeeding in life,” one commenter said.
Another argued that graduating with honors is not the sole measure of future success, writing, “Not those who garnered laude were good enough in university… some of them are lousy enough when it comes to landing a job.”
The discussion comes as students continue to debate whether PUP should revisit its Latin honors policy or maintain the stricter standards to preserve the value and distinction of its academic honors.
