Because the Brown curriculum has traditionally placed greater weight on the act of learning than on external marks of success, the University grants only one honor at commencement: magna cum laude. Brown's Faculty Rules stipulate that this distinction should be awarded to no more than 20% of the graduating class each year.

The determination is based not on the grade point average (which Brown does not calculate) but on the percentage of 'A' grades and marks of 'S with distinction' that a student receives in courses taken at Brown. The distinction mark, while visible to the student in the online internal record, may not be released outside the University and therefore is not noted on the external transcript. However, the distinction mark is taken into account by the Committee on Academic Standing when determining the recipients of magna cum laude each year.