UP Diliman lauds 1,995 graduates; Latin honors decline

Justine Castro

The University of the Philippines Diliman awarded 1,995 Latin honors to the graduating Class of 2026 during its 115th General Commencement Exercises on July 5.

Data released by the Office of the University Registrar on July 2 showed that a total of 154 ‘Iskolar ng Bayan’ received the distinction of summa cum laude (SCL), while 927 graduated magna cum laude (MCL), and 914 finished cum laude (CL).

BS Social Work graduate Janine Sofia Marie Umiten served as the class representative and delivered the valedictory address on behalf of the entire graduating class.

The university recently featured Umiten in its “Beyond the Sablay” series, where she shared how her immersive fieldwork in La Union reshaped her understanding of academic excellence as direct service to the people.

While the state university continues to produce thousands of honor graduates, this batch marks a steady decline from previous years, which recorded 241 summa cum laude graduates out of 2,369 Latin honor recipients in 2025, 286 out of 2,183 in 2024, and 305 out of 2,243 in 2023.

In contrast to the decline in top honors, the number of cum laude graduates has generally risen over the years, jumping from 742 in 2023 to a peak of 985 in 2025, before settling at 914 this year.

This unprecedented surge in Latin honor graduates in recent years previously prompted university officials to review graduation criteria amid mounting concerns over grade inflation.

To address this, the state university formed a technical working group to study possible reforms, including a potential shift to percentile-based thresholds similar to models used by international universities.

However, the university administration has postponed any immediate changes until it fully analyzes academic data from the post-pandemic school years.