Honors are awarded at graduation by all departments of concentration. Departments determine honors on the basis of the grades received by the student in departmental studies, including junior independent work, the senior thesis, and, for students in the bachelor's degree program, the senior departmental examination. Each department chooses the weight to be assigned to the various components in the honors calculation. The degree may be awarded with honors, high honors, or highest honors.

Honors in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs are awarded based upon a ranking of all concentrators according to a weighted average of grades. Note, an individual course may be included only once in the calculation and students may not select a course for which a PDF option was chosen.

The Honors Designation form will be due Friday, March 20, 2026.

• Six graded courses — 60%
  1. SPI 298: Introduction to Public Policy
  2. SPI 300: Research Seminar
  3. SPI 301: Policy Task Force
  4. Power & Identity core
  5. Ethics core
  6. Intermediate Economics core
• Junior Paper — 10%
• Senior Thesis — 25%
• Senior Comprehensive Exam — 5%