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Honors College
 

Information

Honors College Outline

Matriculate approximately 500 new first-year beginning students each fall.

 

Admission to the Honors College

The Honors College selection process for beginning students is by invitation only. To receive full consideration for the Honors College, interested beginning students must have a complete admission application on file by no later than *November 15*. This information is subject to change without notice.

Current Purdue students may also enroll in the Honors College.  

Deadline:  May 24, 2013

Please click here to apply to the Honors College.

 

Academic Requirements

Curriculum for the Purdue University Honors College

Honors Faculty Governance Committee - Approved March 18, 2013

Please click here to download a pdf version of the Honors College Curriculum

The Honors College curriculum stresses both scholarly depth and breadth of study with the goal of helping students to attain not only knowledge of their own particular field but also understanding of the uses and value of that knowledge across disciplines.

The honors curriculum is designed to complement and enhance a student’s major degree; the majority of its 24 credits may be double counted towards that degree and many of its credits will come from work in the foundational core.  The honors curriculum will therefore add value but not time to a student’s degree.

Honors Curriculum

  • 24 credits of honors coursework
  • A thesis or scholarly project determined at the college or department level

Required credits

24 honors credits, of which 5 are specific HONR courses and 19 are elective honors courses, as detailed:

1. Specific Honors courses (5 credits)

  • 2 credits of HONR 19901/2: 1st-year honors. 1 credit during each semester of the 1st year
  • 3 credits of additional HONR course(s)
  • Current Purdue students and transfer students who are accepted into the Honors College will not take the HONR 19901/2 series; they will instead complete 2 other credits of HONR for a total of 5 HONR credits.

2. Elective Honors courses (19 credits)    

The following courses qualify as honors electives:

  • HONR courses other than those used to meet requirement 1, above
  • Courses or course sections with an H designation
  • Courses taken with an H contract
  • Graduate-level courses that are not required for the student’s major(s)
  • Research courses (e.g., undergraduate research, directed study, independent research) towards completion of the student’s thesis or scholarly activity

The following stipulations apply:

  • At least 9 credits must be taken after the 1st year of college enrollment
  • Up to 12 credits may be specified by individual colleges

Thesis or Scholarly Project

An honors student must complete research or other scholarly activity that leads to a culminating thesis or comparable scholarly project, the requirements for which are set by the student’s college or department.  The thesis or scholarly project should demonstrate deep engagement with a student’s chosen field and should be presented in a public forum (e.g. publication, presentation, display, or performance).