To enter the Honors Program directly from high school, you must have a minimum ACT composite of 26 (or 1730 on the 2400-point SAT). Interested, motivated high school students without the minimum ACT score should contact the Honors Office to find out about pending membership options. Student transferring from another university or those already enrolled at TTU are eligible to join the Honors Program after they have taken 12 credit hours at TTU and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
The requirements for graduation in cursu honorum ("through the course of Honors"), the distinction conferred upon those who successfully complete all Honors Program requirements, are listed below:
Honors 1010: Introduction to Honors, a mandatory, highly interactive one-credit-hour course that meets two hours once a week for the first ten weeks of your first fall semester at TTU. This first class focuses on discussion and on learning how to listen and question well. Honors 1010 introduces you to critical thinking, personality types (the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and other models), learning styles, analytical and critical thinking skills, study skills, and other topics. You will also write an autobiography, a resume, and a position paper. Throughout this class, you will get to know some of the teachers and students in the Honors Program.
15 credit hours (typically 3-5 courses) of Honors courses in at least three different departments. You must average two Honors courses per year until you complete the 15 hours. These classes are not additional coursework, but are Honors sections of courses that fulfill core requirements or electives in your major. For example, you might choose to take Honors American history instead of the regular American history course; the Honors course will fulfill your American history requirement!
If you have trouble fitting Honors sections into your schedule of courses, plan ahead to fulfill some of your 15-hours of Honors courses in the disciplines with an Honors contract. This is a written agreement with a professor in a non-Honors section, outlining what you will do to make the course Honors-level work. An Honors contract in an upper-division course in your major can provide an opportunity to study an area of special interest in more depth. Visit Honors Contracts for more information.
Two Honors Colloquia, special seminars designed for Honors on a range of interdisciplinary and in-depth topics not available in the regular University curriculum. These three-credit-hour courses allow professors to share their areas of academic specialization, creating opportunitites for both students and faculty. We usually offer two colloquia each semester. They are unique; colloquia cannot duplicate courses already offered in the TTU curriculum. Past topics have included recombinant DNA, race relations, brain chemistry, society and the environment, censorhip, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
One Colloquium may be substituted with an Honors Directed Study, in which you work individually with a professor to design a course especially for you. Sometimes Honors students find that there is a topic they are passionate about, but that is not available as a course or colloquium. Find a TTU professor who is willing to direct the project and start planning. If you plan to go to graduate school, completing an independent study project will make you more competitive. Visit Honors Directed Studies for more information.
To remain a full member of Honors (eligible for early registration and graduation in cursu honorum), you must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above (3.1 during your first semester in Honors). As a full member, you may have early registration, run for office, and win Honors-specific awards. However, if your GPA drops below a 3.5, you can still do everything else in Honors and the ASG! Associate members (whose GPAs fall below 3.5) enjoy almost all of the privileges of the Honors Program. When your grades come back up, you regain the status and privileges of a full member.
