How does the Honors program work?

Students admitted into the Honors College are working towards earning a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College. This certificate is earned in addition to a Bachelor's degree in the student's major. There is a minimum number of credit hours in the Honors College that must be completed in order to earn the Honors certificate. The Honors College offers students different program options to best fit their needs. 

In addition to fulfilling the Honors certificate, coursework taken through Honors can also fulfill general education and University requirements, electives in several majors, and often counts towards minors or other certificates students are working on. Advisors in the Honors College will work with you to help you select Honors classes that will count towards other requirements. Most students in the Honors College end up taking the same number of classes as non-Honors students, so participation in the Honors College typically does not result in taking extra classes.

Please take a look at our different program options for more details.


Most incoming freshmen will enter the Four-year program in the Honors College, which requires a minimum of 40 credit hours. These 40 credit hours are broken down as follows:

 

33 credit hours in seminar classes (11 classes)

6 credit hours of Independent Study/Internship/Undergraduate Research

1 credit hour of Writing Portfolio

40 credit hours to complete the Honors Certificate

 

See the sample yearly breakdown of the program for more information. Also, please note that this is just an example, and individual student schedules will vary.

The Four-Year program works with all majors.

Students that are admitted into the Honors College and already have between one and three semesters of college coursework completed would enter into the Two-Plus Program. The total number of credit hours for this program are determined on a case-by-case basis. Students would need at least 18 credit hours of Honors seminars and would still need to complete 6 credit hours of Independent Study/Internship/Undergraduate Research and 1 credit hour of Writing Portfolio.

Most transfer students that have earned their Associate's Degree will enter the Honors College at the beginning of their Junior year and be a part of the Two-year Program, which requires a minimum of 22 credit hours. These 22 credit hours are broken down as follows:

15 credit hours in seminar classes (5 classes)

6 credit hours of Independent Study/Internship/Undergraduate Research

1 credit hour of Writing Portfolio

22 credit hours to complete the Honors certificate

 

See a sample yearly breakdown of the program for more information. Also, please note that this is just an example, and individual student schedules will vary.

The Two-Year Program works well with almost all majors.

**Engineering and Nursing majors may encounter scheduling conflicts. Please talk with an Honors Academic Advisor to see if the Honors Program will work for you.**

Additionally, UMSL was named to the 2018 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Roll, which identifies the top four-year colleges and universities creating dynamic pathways to support transfer students!

phi theta kappa seal