Graduation Requirements

All Honors students must complete the Honors College curriculum and a senior thesis supervised by a faculty advisor. Honors theses are presented at a public symposium and are published on PDX.Scholar, PSU's open source thesis and dissertation database.

Honors students must meet the undergraduate degree requirements set by the University, including those governing total credits earned, upper division credits, the writing requirement, residence credit, and degree (BA/BS) requirements, as well as any additional degree requirements set by their major department.

Graduating from Honors requires a cumulative PSU GPA of 3.25 or higher and a cumulative 3.25 GPA in all Honors (HON) courses.

 

First Year: The Global City (15 credits)

• Hon 101, Hon 102, Hon 103
• The sequence fulfills 8 credits of Arts and Letters, 4 credits in Social Science, and the University’s lower-division writing requirement.
• First year students must complete the Global City sequence regardless of the number of AP/IB credits they may have completed.
• Incoming first year transfer students with 29 or fewer college credits must complete the Global City sequence.

Second Year: Urban Discourses (12 credits)

• Hon 201, Hon 202, Hon 203
• These three courses fulfill 4 credits in Arts and Letters, 4 credits in Social Science, and 4 credits in sciences respectively. The sequence completes the lower-division writing requirement.
• Students entering Honors with 30-79 college credits should begin with the second year curriculum; all three courses are required.  It is recommended that transfer students begin with HON 202.

Junior Year: Theory & Practice (12 credits)

• Transfer students must begin with the 4-credit HON 399: Honors Writing.  This course counts towards the 12-credit third year requirement for transfer students entering at the junior level or above.
• Students are required to take at least one 4-credit Honors Junior Seminar: Hon 407
• The additional 8 credits of Junior requirements may be fulfilled through any combination of Honors seminars (Hon 407), internships (Hon 404), research (Hon 401), departmental honors seminars, or approved study abroad courses.
• Students entering Honors with 80+ credits are required to take HON 202 or its equivalent during their first term in Honors. 12 credits of junior level coursework are also required.

Senior Year: Honors Thesis (8 credits)

• Hon 403: Thesis Prospectus (4 credits); Hon 403: Thesis Continuation (4 credits); public presentation and defense
• Students wishing to transfer into Honors as seniors should contact the Honors College Director to discuss their research experience and plans.