Curriculum

Honors Requirements

Students joining the Honors College as incoming freshmen generally complete 24 units of Honors requirements to earn the University Scholars recognition. Transfer students and incoming freshmen may complete fewer units, based on the number of credits transfered in and the student's academic standing at the time of admission to Honors.

A single Honors course may only fulfill one Honors requirement at a time, but may simultaneously count toward an Honors requirement in addition to a Core Curriculum requirement, a major requirement, or both.

Admission in the First Year of Undergraduate Study

Students in this category must complete a total of 24 units of Honors College courses:

• Foundations courses (6 units)
• Lower-Level Honors Coursework (6 units) 
• Upper-Level Honors Seminars (6 units)
• Experiential and Advanced Learning (6 units)

Admission with 30–59 Undergraduate Credits

Students in this category may be exempt from Honors requirements based on transfer credit received for the Core Curriculum Towson Seminar or Core Curriculum English Composition requirements. Students who have satisfied their Core Curriculum requirements for either category through transfer credit are exempted from Honors Foundations of Research or Honors English, respectively. Students who have satisfied both Core Curriculum categories through transfer credits have their Honors English requirement waived and must take HONR 290. In all of the cases above, a student must complete a total of 21 Honors units:

• Foundations courses (3 units)
• Lower-Level Honors Coursework (6 units)
• Upper-Level Honors Seminar (6 units)
• Experiential and Advanced Learning (6 units)

Admission with 60 or More Credits

Students in this category are exempt from the Foundations requirements (only if both the Core Curriculum Towson Seminar and English Composition categories have been satisfied with transfer credits) and 3 units of Lower-Level Honors Coursework. These students must complete a total of 15 Honors units:

• HONR 290 (3 units)
• Upper-Level Honors Seminars (6 units)
• Experiential and Advanced Learning (6 units)

Requirements of All Honors Students:

• Make satisfactory progress towards the completion of their Honors requirements (based on the time of entry in the Honors College). Students should complete a minimum of 6 Honors units per year.
• Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, and a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 for seniors. Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 at the time of graduation in order to graduate from Honors.
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in courses taken for Honors credit.
• Complete all Honors courses with a grade (the "pass grading" option may not be used for Honors courses).

How Will I Complete the Honors Curriculum?

Foundations (6 units)

This tier consists of Honors Foundations of Research and Honors English.

The Honors Foundations of Research requirement may be fulfilled by completing either:

• TSEM 190: Honors Towson Seminar
• HONR 290: Honors Research Seminar on Water and Urban Environments (if student has existing credit for TSEM 102)

The Honors English requirement may be fulfilled by completing either:

• ENGL 190: Honors Writing Seminar
• ENGL 290: Honors Seminar in Literature (if a student has existing credit for ENGL 102)

Lower-Level Honors Coursework (6 units)

This requirement may be fulfilled by taking Honors enhanced courses (Honors versions of existing courses, such as Honors Introduction to Psychology, Honors Acting I, etc.), 200-level Honors seminars such as HONR 235 or HONR 240, or any Honors course that could also fulfill the Upper-Level Honors Seminar requirement. First-year students with more than 30 credited units upon arrival and with Core Curriculum credit in English will take ENGL 290 to meet one lower-level course requirement. Students who have fulfilled their Honors English requirement at Towson may also take ENGL 290 towards lower-level coursework requirements. All 200-level seminars may be repeated for a maximum of 6 units of credit toward Honors College requirements if topics change. ENGL 290 can only be taken twice with different topics, whether for seminar credit, Honors English credit, or some combination thereof. Students may not take HONR 290 for lower-level credit if they have already earned credit for TSEM 190 (Core 1).

 

Upper-Level Honors Seminars (6 units)

Honors College seminars are specialized courses with topics that vary each semester. Some seminars may fulfill Core Curriculum requirements and/or major requirements. Students may take special topics upper-level seminars like HONR 345 or HONR 370 multiple times to count toward these requirements, as long as the student does not repeat a course with the same topic. All approved Honors courses at the 300 or 400 level count as Upper-Level Honors Seminars, even those not listed under the HONR departmental code (such as ENGL 332: Honors Writing Fiction and KNES 354: Honors Sport and Society).

 

Experiential and Advanced Learning (6 units)

Each student must complete an additional 6 Honors units toward Honors College course requirements in the Experiential and Advanced Learning category. All options except for Upper-Level Honors Seminars require advance approval of the Faculty Director and the submission of all required paperwork prior to the start of that credit option. Syllabi and other details are available at the Forms, Syllabi & Online Resources page. The following types of work can count toward this category:

 

• Independent Study
• Study Abroad (not Study Away)
• Internships
• Service-Learning courses
• Directed Readings
• Thesis projects
• Graduate course in a TU accelerated graduate program (max. 3 credits toward Honors requirements)
• Additional 300-level and 400-level Honors seminars

Please consult these resources for more information about the Honors College curriculum:

• Towson University Undergraduate Catalog
• Honors College Advising Resources