A Taste of Honors

Welcome to Honors! Our goal in Honors is to help you achieve your goals, whether they include graduate school, professional school, or an excellent job. Honors students enjoy the benefits of smaller, more discussion-based classes; one-on-one work with professors; and the opportunity to associate with other ambitious, high-ability students. We're looking for students who want to go the extra mile, and who are curious and eager to learn about the world around them.

During your first two years in the Honors Program, you will take courses toward the first portion of an Honors degree, called "Honors in University Studies." A student earns Honors in University Studies by taking 9 credits of Honors general education courses and 3 credits of Honors seminar courses, for a total of 12 Honors credits.

A Taste of Honors

Your first step in completing an Honors degree is called A Taste of Honors. Students enrolled in A Taste of Honors will have the opportunity to apply to Honors in October of their first semester.

During your first semester, you should be enrolled in three Honors courses, which are an introduction to and a sampling of Honors and will help you determine whether or not Honors is the place for you.

Students who have an Admission Index of 125 or higher automatically qualify for acceptance into A Taste of Honors and should request the following three courses when they register for course clusters. All other incoming students who are interested in Honors should contact Honors.

Honors Connections

Honors Connections takes place before classes start in August. Honors Connections is designed to help you hit the ground running for your first semester of college, and make the transition from being a high-ability high school student to a successful Honors student. Read more about Honors Connections.

Scholars Forum

Scholars Forum is a one-credit online course, which serves as the gateway for official entry into the Honors Program. It will help you familiarize yourself with the university and the process of completing an Honors degree. Midway through the course, you will have the opportunity to formally apply to the Honors Program.

Honors Breadth Course

You should also register for an Honors breadth course for fall semester. These lower-division Honors courses will help you meet your general education requirements at USU. Please note that the majority of Honors breadth courses are only offered in the fall semester, and taking an Honors breadth course your first semester is key to really getting a "feel" for Honors.

Continuing on the Pathway

Honors Inquiry

During the second semester of your first year, you will enroll in Honors Inquiry (also called HONR 2100), a one-credit seminar course designed to give students a closer look at their fields of study through the eyes of the Honors Program. During this semester, you will also have the choice of enrolling in an additional Honors course. You may read more about Honors Inquiry on the Honors Seminars page.

Second Year

During your second year as an Honors student, you will have the opportunity to take an Honors section of English 2010, as well as one or more of your depth courses. By the end of your second year, you should have earned at least 12 hours of Honors credit.

Departmental Honors

Once you enter 3000-level coursework within your major, you will begin work on the second portion of an Honors degree, called "Departmental Honors." For Departmental Honors, instead of taking Honors-only courses, you will contract one-on-one with the professors of a few of your regular courses. The culmination of your work and research as an Honors student and a key element in your graduation portfolio is the senior thesis. Several majors, including all those in engineering, already require a senior project, which can expand into your Honors thesis. For those who undertake research in their major or an internship, these projects can also be easily converted into an Honors thesis. Learn more by visiting the Departmental Honors link to the right.