I'm confused with some university terminologies, but what keeps on tingling in me is "Undergraduate Honors". What does it mean by Undergraduate Honors? What is the difference with regular undergraduate program?
Honors degrees are degrees that not only meet the program requirements, but are among the top performers. Generally it means a high grade point average, and no grades below a particular level. Summa cum laude and magna cum laude are popular honors designations.
Maybe its just NZ, but here, an Undergrad Degree with Honours means you are invited back after you finish your Bachelors to study/research for one extra year (at a higher level), and when you finish that you graduate with Honours. Its bsically halfway between a Bachelors and Masters degree.
In addition to an honors degree (see Cogito's post) --I dont know how it is in Australia, but in America most universities (which are comprised of smaller colleges) have a specific college called the Honors College, and when you receive your diploma, it's essentially a certificate of awesomeness. I do believe the specific term, undergraduate with honors, is along the lines of Cogito's post; summa cum laude, magna cum laude... and those distinctions are usually based on solely your GPA upon graduation.
If you're top of your graduating class in your major here you're just given the distinction of 'Senior Scholar'. Its kinda cool, but most people don't take it seriously. You probably wouldn't even mention it on your CV. And I think its worked out on GPA here too. But yeah, if you graduated top of your class here you wouldn't say you graduated with honours.