Unveiling the Florida State University Honors Program: A Comprehensive Guide

Florida State University (FSU) has a rich tradition of recognizing and nurturing exceptional students. This commitment dates back to 1932, when a faculty committee first proposed a program to provide enriched opportunities for high-achieving individuals. The original vision emphasized challenges, incentives, and the development of initiative, resourcefulness, and self-reliance, encouraging students to see knowledge in an interdisciplinary context. Over the years, the Honors Program at FSU has evolved to meet the changing needs and demographics of the student body while upholding its core mission of fostering academic excellence.

The Role of the University Honors Office

The University Honors Office plays a vital role in supporting FSU's tradition of academic excellence. It oversees two primary programs: the University Honors Program and the Honors in the Major Program. The office staff, including the Associate Dean, Associate Director, Assistant Directors, and advisors, work collaboratively to achieve the program's objectives. Their responsibilities include providing dedicated advising to Honors students, monitoring their progress, and organizing special activities and events. Associate Dean: Dr. D.

University Honors Program: Cultivating Scholars and Leaders

The University Honors Program aims to transform FSU's most talented students into outstanding scholars, community leaders, and innovative professionals. Admission to the University Honors Program is competitive and requires a separate application.

Core Requirements for Honors Students

Students admitted to the University Honors Program must fulfill specific requirements to graduate with Honors distinctions. These include:

Maintaining a Minimum GPA: Students must maintain a 3.200 FSU GPA to remain in good standing and graduate with honors.
Completing Honors Course Credits: Students must complete a minimum of 13 Honors credit hours to graduate with University Honors. A maximum of five Honors Points can come from Honors Achievements, but earning points this way is not a requirement. Students can earn all 18 points through their coursework if they choose.
Honors Colloquium: First-year students are required to take the University Honors Colloquium in their first semester. It’s a savior for registering. The Honors Colloquium is a one-credit pass/fail course that fulfills the Engage 100 requirement. It’s led by Honors Colloquium Leaders, who are advanced peer instructors. The course introduces students to FSU and helps students transition from high school to college.
Honors Signature Course: Students must complete at least one course from the program's signature course program. Signature Courses are a central feature of the Honors Program. Students must complete one Honors Signature Course during their first or second year. They are small interactive courses that introduce students to topics that are exclusive and inquiry-based. A great perk of Honors Signature Courses is that they are capped at 24 students, so the small class size allows for more interaction.
Minimum Grade Requirement: Students must complete Honors courses with a grade of “C-” or better. Honors-augmented courses will be counted if a grade of “B-” or better is earned and the Honors-augmented project is completed satisfactorily. Students using Honors in the Major hours must earn a “B-” or better.

Honors Signature Courses: Fostering Critical Thinking

Honors Signature courses are a distinctive feature of the program. These courses are taught by core faculty and are designed to engage students in broad, critical, and creative thinking about fundamental aspects of human existence. The courses employ interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, integrative, and active learning methods to cultivate flexible, higher-order thinking skills, which serve as a foundation for leadership and academic success.

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These courses capitalize on and foster the key characteristics of Honors students, including:

Innovation
Critical and analytical thinking skills
Creativity and flexible thinking
Openness and effective communication with diverse individuals
A passion for complexity and challenge
The ability to consider multiple perspectives

Honors Signature courses are taught by faculty from various academic disciplines who are selected for their teaching and research expertise. These courses also fulfill CoreFSU Curriculum requirements that Honors students might not typically meet through AP, IB, or AICE testing, streamlining the process of meeting university graduation requirements.

Earning the Honors Medallion

Students who successfully complete the University Honors Program requirements and/or the Honors in the Major project will have their achievements recognized on their transcript and will receive an Honors Medallion during a special graduation ceremony. Students need 18 points to graduate with University Honors. Those points can be earned through Honors Coursework and Honors Achievements.

Admission to the University Honors Program

Admission by Application

All high school students accepted into Florida State University as freshmen are eligible to apply to the University Honors Program. The University Honors Program Supplemental Application asks applicants to submit a supplemental short answer response. The Honors Program Supplemental Application and Presidential Scholars Application use the same prompt.

Lateral Admission

First-year students at Florida State University who were not initially admitted to the Honors Program can apply for lateral admission. A limited number of students are admitted laterally at the end of the spring term of their first year. Lateral applicants are evaluated based on their college GPA, course rigor, and the quality of their written essays. Information about the lateral application process is typically available at the beginning of each Spring term. Decisions about lateral admission are made after Spring term grades are posted. The Spring 2024 Honors Lateral Applications opened on March 1, and the deadline is April 26.

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Housing Options for Honors Students

Honors students have the option to live in designated campus residence complexes, subject to availability. Landis Hall, the Honors residence complex, provides an environment conducive to socialization and collaborative study. The proximity of students taking the same courses fosters both planned and spontaneous study sessions. Acceptance into the University Honors Program does not guarantee housing in Landis Hall, Jennie Murphree Hall, or other specific locations. Students can choose to live in the Honors-only Landis Hall, and the overflow goes to Jennie Murphree Hall. Both dorms are near Landis Green and the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House (HSF), which makes the residence halls appealing.

Honors in the Major Program: Independent Scholarship

Many colleges and academic departments at Florida State University participate in the Honors in the Major Program. This program encourages talented juniors and seniors to engage in significant independent and original scholarship as part of their undergraduate experience. Completing an Honors in the Major project allows students to deepen their knowledge of their field and prepare for postgraduate work or further education.

Project Structure and Requirements

Honors in the Major work is conducted over two or three semesters in close collaboration with a faculty project director from the student's major department. Each student works with an Honors in the Major project supervisory committee, which includes the faculty project director and two or three other members. One member must have a home academic department the same as the student's major department, and another must have a home academic department different from the student's major department. The student selects the committee members.

Typically, the faculty project director and members of the supervisory committee are tenured, tenure-track, or specialized faculty members. Post-doctorate researchers are eligible to serve as a member of the supervisory committee as long as they will be at Florida State University for the duration of the student's Honors in the Major project.

A prospectus outlining the nature, scope, and methodology of the Honors in the Major project is due to the University Honors Office during the first semester of research. The prospectus must be approved by all members of the supervisory committee.

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During each semester of project work, the student must enroll in one to three semester hours of Honors in the Major credit using the appropriate course number provided by their major department. Students must earn a total of six to nine Honors in the Major credits and must receive at least a “B-” in each of these courses. A student who does not have six credit hours of work graded “B-” or better will not be eligible for program completion and graduation with honors. Students must also maintain at least a 3.200 cumulative and FSU GPA (unrounded to the third decimal place) until graduation.

To complete the Honors in the Major requirements, students must complete six or more credit hours of Honors in the Major coursework over two to three semesters and successfully defend their Honors in the Major project. The student orally defends the completed Honors in the Major project in a meeting with the supervisory committee. Following a successful defense, the student must submit the required defense forms and one electronic copy of the completed project no later than the official last day of classes in the defense semester.

Students who meet these requirements will graduate “With Honors” in their major, a distinction that is announced during commencement and designated on the graduate's official transcript.

Starting an Honors in the Major Project

Students do not need to be part of the University Honors Program to start their HITM project. In fact, any FSU student officially admitted to their major who has at least a 3.200 GPA (both FSU and Cumulative, not rounded to the third decimal place) and will have at least 60 completed credit hours by the start of their HITM project are welcome to apply. To learn all about applying to and preparing for the Honors in the Major Program, read the Honors in the Major Handbook.

The first step in beginning your application will be finding your faculty director. Your faculty director will be a full-time tenured, tenure-track, or specialized FSU faculty member in your major. If a specialized faculty member, they must have a terminal degree in the field or must have graduate faculty status. You may already have a faculty member in mind, but if you're not sure who in your department might be a good fit, you can reach out to the liaison for your department.
Once you have recruited your faculty director you will work together to clarify a working title for your research.
You will also need to discuss your timeline with your faculty director. You are required to complete a minimum of two semesters and six credit hours in order to earn Honors in the Major. These semesters should be consecutive, with the exception of the summer semester if you will not be on campus. You can take up to nine credit hours of HITM project work over three semesters if necessary. In addition, some departments have additional requirements students must meet, and students should consult with their departmental academic advisor for clarification about these departmental requirements.
In order to officially start work on your project you must fill out the application and have it approved and signed by your faculty director, the liaison for your major, and your department chair. The deadline to apply to begin an Honors in the Major project in either Summer or Fall 2023 was Friday, April 14, 2023, by 4:30 pm Eastern. All students planning to begin their HITM project in Summer or Fall 2023 submitted their application through the HITM online portal as early as the first day of the Spring 2023 semester. Hard copies of the application were not accepted. All signatures had to be secured on one form. Three different PDF files, each with one signature, were not submitted.

Honors Societies at FSU: Recognizing Excellence

Through the University Honors Program, Honors in the Major Program, and various honor societies, Florida State University encourages excellence in all its students. FSU is home to the first Phi Beta Kappa chapter in the state of Florida.

Honors societies that are formally recognized by Florida State University have met the standards set by the Undergraduate Policy Committee. Some organizations are University-wide, while others are specific to individual disciplines. Eligibility is typically based on scholarship, leadership, and service to the campus and community.

University-Wide Honor Societies

Phi Beta Kappa: A scholastic honor society for students of the liberal arts and sciences. The FSU chapter, established in 1935, was the first in Florida. The chapter recognizes outstanding juniors and graduating seniors and sponsors visiting speakers. It also presents the Marion Jewell Hay Award to the top graduating student member and offers travel funding for academic conferences. New members are automatically invited each Fall, Spring, and Summer based on major, grades (minimum 3.9 GPA for juniors and 3.65 GPA for seniors), language study, and other criteria.
Phi Kappa Phi: Recognizes academic excellence among undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty in all disciplines. The University chapter was chartered in 1925. New members are automatically invited each Spring. Second-term juniors must rank in the upper seven and one-half percent of their respective colleges. Seniors must be in the upper ten percent of their respective colleges. Graduate and professional students must rank in the upper ten percent of their respective college. All students must have at least twenty-four graded semester hours at Florida State University.
Golden Key International Honour Society: Honors undergraduate and graduate academic achievements. The Florida State University chapter was chartered in 1984. The chapter presents a yearly Outstanding Scholar Award and regularly sponsors projects in local schools and within the community.
Phi Eta Sigma: The oldest and largest national honor society that encourages and rewards academic excellence among first-year university students. Every Spring full-time FSU undergraduates who earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 during their first year in college are offered membership-for-life in Phi Eta Sigma.
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars: Recognizes outstanding academic achievement among first and second year college students and encourages members to develop leadership skills through community service. The society was founded in 1994 at The George Washington University, and the Florida State University chapter was formed in 1995.
The W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society: Established in 1991, promotes academic excellence, community service, and recognition of outstanding achievements among its members. Membership is open to all full-time undergraduate students of sound character who have achieved a 3.3 cumulative GPA at Florida State University, are in the top twenty percent of his/her class, and have earned at least thirty semester hours at this University.
Omicron Delta Kappa: The national leadership honor society for faculty and students. The society recognizes achievement in scholarship; athletics; social, service, and religious activities; campus government; journalism, speech, and mass media; and creative and performing arts.
Mortar Board: A national honor society that recognizes students for distinguished achievement in scholarship, leadership, and service.

Benefits of the Honors Program

The FSU Honors Program offers numerous benefits to its students, including:

Priority Registration: Honors students are guaranteed priority class registration, allowing them to enroll in their desired courses more easily.
Small Class Sizes: Honors Signature Courses are capped at 24 students, fostering greater interaction and engagement.
Honors Course Sections and Augmented Courses: Honors-dedicated sections of courses and honors-augmented courses provide specialized learning opportunities. There are also Honors Course Sections, which are honors-dedicated sections of a course, and there are Honors-Augmented Courses, where a course section taught outside of the Honors Program has seats and additional content reserved for honors students.
Community Building: The Honors Program facilitates community building through the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House, the Honors Student Association (HSA), and various social events, service opportunities, and workshops.
Dedicated Faculty and Staff: Honors students have access to dedicated Honors Teaching Faculty and Honors advisors who provide guidance and support.
Honors-Only Residence Hall: Students have the option to live in Landis Hall, an Honors-only residence hall, or Jennie Murphree Hall.

Opportunities for Honors Study in the State University System

Opportunities abound for honors study in the State University System, which includes one standalone institution (New College of Florida), four honors colleges, and six honors programs.

New College of Florida: Founded in 1960 as a private college for academically talented students, New College became a public honors college in 1975.
Florida Atlantic University: FAU offers multiple opportunities for undergraduate students to pursue an honors program of study. The Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College located in Jupiter, Florida is a close-knit, residential, liberal arts and sciences college offering an all-honors curriculum. The University Honors Program at the Boca Raton campus is designed to provide students with exceptional and rewarding learning opportunities at the lower-division through special Honors sections of courses, small class size, and close contact with many of the University’s top-ranked faculty.
Burnett Honors College, University of Central Florida: The Burnett Honors College combines the intimacy of a small liberal arts college with the benefits of a large, metropolitan research university.
Judy Genshaft Honors College at the University of South Florida: The Judy Genshaft Honors College provides transformative educational opportunities that prepare highly motivated, intellectually curious, service-oriented, and academically accomplished students to become active and engaged thought leaders of the 21st century.
University of Florida Honors Program: The mission of the UF Honors Program is to connect, nurture and engage the next generation of scholars who change the world. The program is structured in two parts: the First-Year Honors Program (FHP) for first-year students and the University Honors Program (UHP) for upper-division students. Tailored advising, opportunities for community-building and interdisciplinary engagement are provided at every level of the program.

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