To graduate with honors in the Arts and Sciences, students must complete all degree requirements, earn a cumulative GPA of 3.4, complete the Honors Coursework Requirements, and complete the Honors Project Requirements. All students entering OSU AU22 and later are required to follow the below requirements regardless of whether following GEN or GEL. See Honors Advisor for more info.
Honors Requirements
College of Arts & Sciences Honors Requirements
- A minimum of 18 hours of Honors coursework including:
- Honors courses (H)
- Honors-embedded courses (E)
- Honors-quality coursework
- For this requirement, transfer credit (K) will suffice, but examination credit (AP/IB) will not. Up to 2 classes can overlap with the student’s major. One class may overlap with the student’s minor. All honors-quality GE courses may be used to fulfill this requirement.
- All GE Theme courses must be Honors or Honors-quality courses.
- At least one Honors or Honors-quality course in EACH of the following disciplines (these can overlap with GE, major, minor, or elective courses):
- Natural and Mathematical Sciences
- Arts and Humanities
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
- The ASC Honors survey course (This requirement will be waived for students who do not begin their undergraduate careers in the ASC Honors Program).
- An Honors enhanced ePortfolio (This requirement will be waived for students following the GEL).
- Any Honors requirements within the major (varies by major).
- Honors Project.
All Honors students will design, carry out, and defend a project that is approved by the ASC Honors Committee. An Honors Project is a challenging, original project completed by a student’s fourth year. While many students complete an Honors thesis, the Honors project could be a service-learning project, a research experience, an internship, or a creative arts project. In every case, the student must submit a proposal that must be approved by the ASC Honors Committee.
Project options include:
- Honors thesis (students who complete a thesis will also graduate with Honors research distinction)
- Six credit hours (or the equivalent) over at least two semesters of the following:
- service-learning experience (S coursework)
- research experience (4998H)
- internship (3191)
- coursework that results in a creative arts project
- global education experience
- other projects as approved by the ASC Honors Committee
- an integrated combination equaling six total credit hours (or the equivalent) of two of the above experiences (for example: three credit hours of global education and three credit hours of research, two different three credit hour internships)
Honors Program Benchmarks
New Honors Students: For students joining the program between semesters (before classes start), it is mandatory to complete the previous Benchmark requirement. If joining mid-semester, students may wait
until following Benchmark requirement to maintain Honors status.
| End of Year 1 | End of Year 2 | End of Year 3* | End of Year 4* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submit an Honors Project Planning Form to maintain Honors status. Students who join Honors during year one must submit this form within one semester of joining Honors. | Submit an Honors Project Proposal. Students who join Honors during or after year two must submit this form within one semester of joining Honors. | Complete an Honors Project Report by the end of year four or the semester of graduation (and include it in ePortfolio for GEN students only). | Present the work at the Honors Project Symposium or another approved forum by the end of year four or the semester of graduation (or semester of thesis defense) |
*OR semester of graduation OR semester of thesis defense
Contact: All questions pertaining to the Honors Project should be directed to sallade.3.
General Education Requirements
The Honors Guides to the General Education Requirements provide basic information about the general education requirements for student planning to complete an honors curriculum. These guides are available in the ASC Honors Office as well as through the links below. Consultation with an ASC honors advisor regarding the General Education requirements is strongly encouraged.
The Honors Guides to the General Education Requirements provide basic information about the general education requirements for a student planning to complete an Honors Contract. These guides are available in the ASC Honors Office as well as through the links below. Consultation with an ASC honors advisor regarding the General Education requirements is strongly encouraged.
Pursuing a major in the arts? (Art, Art Education, Dance, Design, Music, Theatre, Arts Management, Film Studies, History of Art, Moving-Image Production) See the Arts Honors Program website for more information.