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Honors College Curriculum Requirements

High school seniors with outstanding academic ability may request to join the Honors College when they are admitted as freshmen. Transfer students and already matriculated students who have completed fewer than 30 credits and who have achieved strong academic records may be considered for admission to the Honors College. Under exceptional circumstances, able students who have completed more than 30 credits may be admitted with permission of the director. Certain Honors College courses are open to upperclass students not enrolled in the Honors College, with the permission of the director; these Honors courses must be counted as electives and may not be accepted as substitutes for University Requirements.

Honors College students must complete eight Honors College courses, which together replace most University Requirements. Four of these eight courses are specifically required: HON 150, 260 or 261, 270 and 280. In addition, students must complete one of following three courses: HON 210, 220, 240; they must also complete one of these three courses: HON 230, 250, 290. Students may select any two additional 200-level Honors College courses to complete their requirement of eight. Exceptions to this curriculum require the approval of the director.

In  addition to the Honors classes, students must complete the Quantitative Reasoning, Multilingual Communication and Tech Fluency requirements.

Students who graduate from the Honors College fulfill the W-course requirement.  Students who do not graduate from the Honors College but who successfully complete Honors College courses receive W-course credit as follows:  students completing eight Honors courses receive credit for three W-courses; students completing six to seven Honors courses receive credit for two W-courses; students completing three to five Honors courses receive credit for one W-course; students completing fewer than three Honors courses receive no W-course credit.

Students in the Honors College may select a major in any department and may be enrolled in any school of the university. They must complete the same requirements set by their major as would students not in the Honors College.
Honor College juniors must complete HON 350. They are also strongly encouraged to undertake a community-service internship for an additional, variable-number of HON 499 credits. Seniors must follow one of two alternative tracks to complete requirements for graduation from the Honors College. Seniors may enroll for honors thesis or creative project credit in the appropriate department, which may be their major department or any other department whose chairperson accepts them as candidates. Most students also enroll for three credits of independent study during the semester before enrolling for thesis credits. During their senior year, Honors College students also enroll for HON 400, Research Colloquium, for one credit, and also for HON 401, Thesis Colloquium, for one-half credit.

Honors College juniors must complete HON 350 or an approved upper-level research methods course in their major.  After completing this course, students complete a two-semester departmental honors thesis or creative project (HON 494 and HON 495), and also enroll in HON 400 - Research Colloquium for one credit, and HON 401 - Thesis Colloquium for one-half credit.  The thesis is completed in the department in which they are majoring,  or any other department whose chairperson accepts them as candidates.  More information on the thesis may be found at the University Honors Committee website, www.southernct.edu/development/honorsthesescommittee.