Honors College Coursework

The Honors College curriculum is an enriched and fulfilling series of courses and experiences that are integrated into a student's course of study so as not to conflict with their school/major requirements. The curriculum and its classes are designed by faculty to take an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, as well as fuel a student's passions for intellectual growth and challenge.

In order to graduate as an Honors College Scholar or an Honors College Scholar with Distinction, all of the courses below must be completed with a grade of B or better.

Honors Mission Course
The Honors Mission Course provides first-year students with a common academic experience exploring the nature of broad learning in higher education, a School-based framework, and a common reading. Bringing all new Honors College Scholars together students investigate some of the essential questions defining human existence in the 21st century, emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration as a tool for successful student outcomes, and address moral, social, and cultural questions and scientific and economic challenges. Through this course, our primary task is to engage all our first-year Honors College students to develop traits and noncognitive skills--such as critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, social skills, persistence, creativity, and introspection--that allow them to contribute meaningfully to society and to succeed in their public lives, workplaces, homes, and other societal contexts. All Honors College students are required to take at least one Mission Course in either their first or second semester.

Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar
These seminars, designed and proposed by faculty members, provide students with an opportunity to work closely with a faculty member and think about complex problems and issues across disciplinary boundaries or outside of traditional disciplinary trajectories. All seminars involve extensive written work, readings, deliberative discussion, and independent work, and they often include research as well as fieldwork opportunities. We offer several thematic or structured seminars, including Cross Cultural Community Seminars with a community-oriented investigative theme such as health care or the environment, embedded study abroad or study away courses which add a short term travel-study component, collaborative online international learning seminars (COIL) which include a side-by-side real-time learning experience with students and faculty from a university abroad, and LGBTQ+ Learning Collaborative courses that are focused on broadening all students' awareness of the contributions and history of the LGBTQ+ communities in global society.

Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars have an enrollment of no more than 18 students. Many Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars offered through SAS, SEBS, and RBS course codes can be used to meet the Undergraduate-New Brunswick Core requirement for Writing and Communication (code WCd). Every Honors College student must take at least one Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar within their first six semesters and additional Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars can be taken to fulfill honors credit requirements.

Global Competency Course
To ensure a broader world view and an understanding of how large our communities of engagement truly are, students must choose to enroll in at least one global competency course from across three different categories: intermediate level (or higher) proficiency in a global language, a global cultural course from an approved list maintained on our website, or six credits of study abroad.

General Honors Courses
Honors College students must also complete a minimum number of additional honors credits from among the full offering of courses across campus that are designed with an honors approach. These include additional Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars, departmental honors courses or sections, SEBS Tutorials I-VI, +Honors contract courses, or Byrne Seminars, the latter of which are only open to first-year students by University policy.

+Honors Contract Courses
Students have the opportunity to design their own honors course by working collaboratively with a faculty member in order to turn a non-Honors course into an approved honors class. Students and faculty must follow a set of guidelines and expectations, spelled out on the Honors College webpage, agree to a contract of substantial alterations, additional out-of-class meetings with the faculty member, and assignments that enrich the student experience and are part of the overall class grade. These courses can count as General Honors courses (see above). This option can be used to enroll in graduate courses (not counting Capstone courses) or study abroad and study away.

Honors College Service Hours
The completion of approved community engagement service hours is a required component of the Honors College curricular program. The details of this are discussed in a separate section. The requirement is for 30 hours if you enter as a freshman and 20 hours if you enter as a sophomore transfer or Rutgers admit, and the same for transfer students admitted in their junior year from a community college or four-year university.

Additional Courses for Honors College Scholar with Distinction
Students who complete all of the above requirements can graduate as an Honors College Scholar. However, for those who wish to graduate as an Honors College Scholar with Distinction you must also apply for and receive approval, and then undertake a Capstone Project of 200 hours over two semesters (some exceptions apply) in order to earn our highest distinction.

Capstone Project 
Honors College students who choose to complete an independent capstone project during their senior year will be graduated as an Honors College Scholar with Distinction. Because of the wide range of majors in the Honors College--from the humanities, social sciences, and arts to business, engineering, and the life and physical sciences--a variety of seven distinctive projects can fulfill the capstone requirement. The options are: (1) Departmental honors; (2) School-based honors project; (3) Interdisciplinary honors thesis/project; (4) two inter-related graduate courses; (5) graduate-level program or certificate; (6) experiential program or project; and (7) a global capstone involving study abroad and an associated culture class.

Working closely with and receiving support from a departmental faculty capstone supervisor or supervisors, and guided through the application process by a School-based Honors College Adviser, students propose and gain approval for their capstone project by the end of their junior year (some exceptions can apply). All proposals must be approved by both the Honors College and the designated faculty member(s). Work on the project can begin, in some cases, during the junior year and will comprise at least 6 academic credits over two semesters, unless otherwise designated by the School or department