Each fall and spring semester, a Dean’s Honor List of outstanding students is issued. To be eligible for the Dean’s Honor List, a student must have completed a program of 12 or more graded units at Santa Monica College during the qualifying fall or spring semester, and have earned a semester grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. The units must be in courses that award an A (4.0), B (3.0), C (2.0), D (1.0), or F (0.0) as a grade (grades of P, NP, or I are not included).
A student’s transcript will be annotated with the designation “Dean’s Honor List.”
Santa Monica College students who have consistently demonstrated outstanding academic excellence and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher for all college-level courses they have completed at SMC and at other institutionally accredited institutions receive special recognition of their outstanding academic excellence at graduation. A record of their graduation honors will appear on their transcript.
To be eligible for honors at graduation, students must not only have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA (including coursework from other colleges), but also meet all of SMC’s graduation requirements for an Associate degree or Bachelor's degree, including the completion of a minimum of 12 units of coursework while attending SMC. Students must also be in good academic standing (i.e., not on dismissed status for lack of progress) at the time they graduate.
Students completing only a Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Completion, or a Certificate of Proficiency are not eligible for honors at graduation.
A student’s cumulative grade point average must match the narrow range specified below for the student to be awarded one of the following honors with the Associate degree:
- Graduation with Highest Honors — requires a student to have attained a cumulative GPA of 4.0 (including coursework from other colleges) and completed a minimum of 12 units of coursework while attending SMC;
- Graduation with High Honors — requires a student to have attained a cumulative GPA ranging from 3.70 to 3.99 (including coursework from other colleges) and completed a minimum of 12 units of coursework while attending SMC; and
- Graduation with Honors — requires a student to have attained a cumulative GPA ranging from 3.0 to 3.69 (including coursework from other colleges) and completed a minimum of 12 units of coursework while attending SMC. Students who have been suspended or expelled from the College — regardless of how excellent their grade point average might be — are not eligible to receive honors at graduation.