Welcome to USU Honors

Earn 28 Honors points by taking courses, designing and completing short-term projects that put learning into practice beyond the classroom, and creating and completing an Honors Capstone Project. Because requirements map flexibly and meaningfully onto any major, students can customize their Honors experience to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Students can earn points by engaging in their campus community, taking Honors courses, completing Honors-in-Practice work, and designing and submitting an Honors Capstone Project. Find more information about Honors points on the Honors website. If you are interested in getting involved in research, please visit the Undergraduate Research website. To create an Honors plan tailored to your own interests, please schedule an appointment with an Honors academic advisor.

Students can track their points (and progress toward completing program requirements and meeting Honors learning outcomes) in the Honors Canvas Course (you will get access to this course once you register for courses at USU).

Honors highly recommends students register for at least one Honors Introductory Experience Course in their first year. These courses fulfill both Honors and USU General Education Breadth requirements and are intentionally designed to introduce you to Honors peers and teach you how to read, write, and think on a college level. If you have already fulfilled all of your General Education Breadth requirements, you may be interested in taking an Honors Think Tank (General Education Depth) course instead.

There are many ways to learn about Honors events:

Honors Weekly Newsletter: The Honors weekly e-newsletter, Honors in the Know, includes announcements about activities and/or programs that are of interest to our students, as well as a calendar of USU and Honors events for the week. We send the newsletter to your USU A-number email address on Monday mornings, beginning the week before fall term begins (August 19).

Email: Important and timely Honors announcements and reminders are sent via email to your USU A-number address. We also send announcements in Canvas, which may appear in your email, depending on your Canvas settings once you have accepted our invitation to join the University Honors Program Canvas course.

Social media: You can follow USU Honors on social media (Instagram, X, LinkedIn) for takeovers, contests, student and alumni highlights, and event updates.

Honors students are required to take an Honors section of USU Connections (USU 1010 H) the week before fall semester begins. Honors Connections sections are designed to connect you with your Honors peers and help you understand Honors requirements. For a list of Honors sections of USU Connections, please visit our course page.

We also offer many activities during your first semester to help engage with our community, including a Fall Honors Student Social, Honors hikes, and various community-engagement projects. Refer to Honors in the Know, Honors email announcements, and our social media postings for details about these and other community-building activities.

Another way to meet Honors students is to register for Honors courses, which are designed to help you work together and get to know one another, in addition to fulfilling university general education or other requirements. Honors courses are all small, hands-on, discussion-based, and community-focused, allowing for an exceptional learning environment and opportunity to meet peers.

Honors has a great advising team which includes two professional academic advisors and peer advisors. You can make an appointment at any time by visiting the Honors Advising page. All students should schedule an initial advising appointment to create their four-year advising plan after they have completed the Honors Requirements Quiz.

To qualify for Honors early registration, you must meet with an Honors advisor every semester and be actively earning Honors points. Students must meet annual point thresholds to qualify.

Departmental Honors Advisors (DHAs) are faculty members in each department who have agreed to help Honors students connect with their peers and professors in that department. They can offer ideas about how to get involved in both Honors and your major, including opportunities for research, creative work, and eventually Honors Capstone Projects. They have lots of experience in their disciplines and with Honors, and they are there to help you!

Honors offers specific scholarships and other funding opportunities for active and engaged Honors students at every level of the program. You can apply for funding to support many different experiences that enrich your college education, including Honors research and study abroad funding.