Merits, Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees in the CLAA · Jul 14, 2026

In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we have restored the classical practice of conferring academic honors on students whose work has earned them. Our new Awards system allows the Academy to establish credentials of every rank — from simple merits recognizing the completion of a single course, to certificates for mastery of a subject, to diplomas and degrees crowning years of faithful study. Each award is defined by clear, published requirements: the courses to be completed, the lessons to be mastered, the hours of study, the standards to be met. Students may declare their candidacy for any award and watch their progress as they work through its requirements, lesson by lesson and course by course. When every requirement is fulfilled, the award is not generated by a machine but conferred by the Headmaster's own hand, and the record of what was accomplished is permanently sealed in the student's academic record. There are no points, badges, or leaderboards in the Academy — no artificial contests setting student against student. There is honest work, a clear standard, and honors conferred when the standard is met — as it was in the schools that formed the saints and scholars of Christendom. -WCM