Selection and Requirements

How are students selected for Honors?

First-year students are selected and invited to join the Honors Program upon the recommendation of the admission committee and the Honors Program Council. To be considered for the Honors Program, the student should have a cumulative grade point average of 3.80 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) and a composite ACT score of 30 or higher.

What is required of Honors students?

To graduate with All College Honors, students must earn 32 credits or more in honors courses, including twelve credits in 300-level courses and achieve at least a 3.4 cumulative GPA.  There are two tracks through the Honors Program.  A student may choose to do the non-thesis track which requires 8 courses in the Honors program to fulfill the 32 minimum credits.  Completion of this track results in graduation with All-College Honors.  A student may prefer to choose the thesis option.  Under this option, 4 of the required thirty-two minimum credits are fulfilled through completion of a faculty mentored thesis project, usually during the junior and senior years. Depending on the quality of the thesis, this track results in graduation with All College Honors with Departmental Distinction.

Honors courses are specially designed to develop students' writing and discussion skills and their ability to think critically beyond the norm. Students generally take one honors course each of the eight semesters they are enrolled at CSB and SJU. Most of these courses fulfill core requirements.