The highest level of honors is Summa Cum Laude, then comes Magna Cum Laude, and then Cum Laude. Thus, a grade point average (GPA) of 4.0 is Summa Cum Laude. Acutally, Summa Cum Laude starts at a 3.85 GPA. Still, different institutions have different requirements.

honors

Use lower case and italicize cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum.

Cum laude means 'with honor', magna cum laude is 'with high honor', and summa cum laude means 'with the greatest honor'. These designations are granted to every graduate who meets a required grade-point average, so several students in a class, or even an entire class, could graduate cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. The valedictorian is the student with the highest academic rank in the class, so you would expect he would at least be a cum laude graduate. But if you have a class where no one has over a B average, there will still be a valedictorian but he will not be graduated with honors.