Mark Fessenden (asker) Oct 4, 2021:

Glad you mentioned cum laude but It doesn't seem to be the best fit, relevant to the discussion though. Wish I could add French-English translators' eyes to this. Note that this question won't be closed until there are more validations. saludos

ormiston Sep 21, 2021:

Commendation sounds better than congratulations But I'm wondering why cum laude has not been proposed, as close to the source term and obviously coming from the examining board

Mark Fessenden (asker) Sep 21, 2021:

congratulations of the jury/jury's commendation The context makes it pretty clear this was some type of distinction, such as "with honors". I wanted to check that there wasn't a common, non-literal translation being used. As that does not appear to be the case, I am partial to the literal "congratulations of the jury." Nevertheless, I went ahead and used "jury's commendation" in my translation. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.

Althea Draper Sep 20, 2021:

Très honorable avec félicitations Here is the wikipedia entry that may explain this better

"Très honorable avec félicitations du jury, meaning "Very Honorable, with Committee Praise", was the highest academic distinction awarded in the French academic university system.

The doctoral academic distinctions were, in ascending order, honorable, très honorable, très honorable avec félicitations du jury.[1] They are entirely distinct from bachelor's and master's distinctions, which are Assez bien, Bien and Très bien, as they are awarded by the Thesis Committee right after the thesis' Defense. The félicitations du jury were an exceptional distinction, requiring a positive secret vote by the Committee and a special memo to be written by the Committee Chairperson to justify this honor. Due to the disparity of treatment – some universities delivering it systematically, others very unfrequently – many universities ruled out the mention of félicitations du jury in the report.

Since a 2016 ruling, in France, the title of Doctor is no longer assorted with a distinctive mention or accolade"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Très_honorable_avec_félicitati...

Lisa Rosengard Sep 20, 2021:

'Accreditation is the act of being accredited, especially the granting of approval to an institution of learning by an official review board after the school has met specific requirements.' https://www.thefreedictionary.com/accreditation. Approval has more general connotions. It's the act or an instance of approving with favourable regard and commendation, though it can also be an official approbation or sanction. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/approval (Accreditation fits better in the context of educational certificates.)

David Hollywood Sep 20, 2021:

"approved" is a good option too but I would go with "accredited"

Lisa Rosengard Sep 20, 2021:

approved by a committee The higher national diploma on plastic design was obtained by committee approval, master in graphic design in the upper school of art and design.