Honors College Academic Requirements

The Honors College at UMBC offers students a challenging, interdisciplinary academic program in the context of a research university. We see the undergraduate years as a time to develop the distinct human faculties of critical thinking and ethical judgment, the essential foundations for adult life. To this end, the College supports a wide range of enriched Honors courses and co-curricular activities throughout the year, creating a community where our motto, "Learning for Living," can be experienced by all.

Requirements for the Certificate of General Honors

The following course and GPA requirements must be met for a student to receive a Certificate of General Honors. Honors College students must maintain their standing in the College by taking a minimum of two courses per year until all requirements are met. All courses taken to fulfill the requirements, with the exception of the Applied Learning Experience, must be at least three credits and passed with a grade of A or B.

The Honors College also counts departmental honors courses and graduate-level courses as meeting the requirements for the Certificate of General Honors. These courses must also be for a minimum of three credits, must be taken for a letter grade, and must be passed with a grade of A or B.

• HONR 100: Honors Forum in the fall semester of the first year. Required for all new students except those entering with more than 30 credits beyond AP credits.
• Two HONR 200-level seminars. Courses that may be substituted for these in the fall or spring of the first year are First-year Seminars (FYS); HUM 121H; and PUB 150H.
• One HONR 300-level seminar.
• One English Composition course. If AP credit exempts a student from ENGL 100, another expository writing course approved by the Honors College may be substituted.
• Three additional Honors courses (minimum 3 credits each). One Honors course must be completed in three of the following four areas: arts/humanities, social sciences, mathematics/natural sciences and language/culture.
• An Applied Learning Experience (described below).
• Maintenance of a cumulative 3.25 GPA (assessed at the end of each academic year) until completion of degree.
• One Honors course per semester until 90 credits are earned (excluding AP credit) and certificate requirements are met.

Waiver Policy: Students may request a one-time waiver from the requirements to complete two honors courses per year until the certificate requirements are met. Such a waiver request is most likely to be granted if there is a serious academic reason for the request.

Applied Learning Experience
Applied Learning Experiences include university-sanctioned research, internships, study abroad programs and service-learning programs. It is expected that the applied learning experience will generally be for at least one semester and will result in a written report to be turned in to The Honors College for review. Experiences bearing academic credit are preferable, but non-credit experiences may also be approved. Consideration will be given to requests to count special session (summer or winter) experiences. Decisions will be based on the rigor, length, and depth of the program under consideration. HONR 390, HONR 400, HONR 410 or HONR 490 may be used to meet the Applied Learning requirement.