About This Program
Explore Kent State University's Honors program, designed to provide exceptional students with unique academic opportunities and challenges. Engage in small, discussion-based classes, pursue independent research projects and participate in enriching experiential learning activities. Join a vibrant community of scholars and leaders, where intellectual curiosity and academic excellence thrive. Read more...
Contact Information
- Program Coordinator: Olof Thordardottir| othordar@kent.edu | 330-672-2312
- Speak with an Advisor
- Chat with an Admissions Counselor: Kent Campus | Regional Campuses
Program Delivery
- Location:
- East Liverpool Campus
- Kent Campus
- Salem Campus
- Stark Campus
- Trumbull Campus
- Tuscarawas Campus
Admission Requirements
The Honors College seeks incoming students who demonstrate the potential for superior academic and creative ability at Kent State University. Admission to the Honors College for new undergraduate students is by invitation only. In addition to reviewing the student's admission application, the college conducts a holistic review of many variables, including, but not limited to, high school performance (curriculum, grade point average), essay, extra-curricular activities and work experiences. Standardized tests are considered but not required for admission to the Honors College.
Program Requirements
Honors section of courses can be used to meet requirements in all degree granting colleges and schools of the university and to also satisfy Kent Core requirements. All new honors students are enrolled in the year-long colloquium (HONR 10197 and HONR 10297). The colloquium is designed to be a rigorous course in reading, thinking and writing about literature and ideas. The goal of the courses are to develop habits of intellectual inquiry, mature understanding and effective communication that will serve the students through the college years and afterward.
Beyond the honors colloquium courses, many Honors courses are offered by distinguished faculty from academic departments throughout the university. Although these courses differ significantly in content, from art to zoology, they share a common form. Class enrollments are small, and students can get to know each other and their professors in an environment that encourages learning through discussion, reading, individual work and writing.
Seniors in the Honors College can conclude their undergraduate careers by completing a sustained scholarly or creative project under faculty guidance. Theses and projects have been submitted by seniors from all of the degree-granting colleges and schools at Kent State University and have ranged over many disciplines and areas of creative endeavor. Novels and plays have been written; research has been undertaken in the natural and social sciences; historical events and periods have been critically analyzed; architectural models have been proposed for urban renewal sites; and paintings and films have been created and exhibited. Each thesis/project attests to the willingness of Honors students to extend learning beyond the classroom to self-directed efforts appropriate to the conclusion of an enriched program of study.
Graduation Requirements
The college offers three programs for Graduation with Honors. Although each has minimum overall GPA requirements, the primary emphasis is on the successful completion of an undergraduate degree program, including a Senior Honors Thesis or Project.
- Graduation with Departmental Honors requires completion of a Senior Honors Thesis or Project and a minimum 3.5 overall GPA. The requirements are sufficiently flexible to enable undergraduates who join the college in their junior year to participate in this program.
- Graduation with General Honors requires completion of a Senior Honors Thesis or Project plus 24 Honors College credit hours and a minimum 3.5 overall GPA.
- Graduation with University Honors requires completion of a Senior Honors Thesis or Project plus 24 Honors College credit hours and a minimum 3.8 overall GPA.
Students who do not wish to complete a Senior Honors Thesis or Project to graduate with Honors may alternatively finish 24 Honors College credit hours and achieve a minimum 3.25 overall GPA to graduate from the university as Honors College Scholars.
The Honors Concept
The Honors College is guided by two basic principles:
- The first is a responsibility to provide academic work that offers intellectual challenge to the best students in the university and demands of them the best effort of which they are capable. To this end, courses are designed to stretch the mind, sharpen skills and encourage high standards of performance.
- The second principle is a belief that, regardless of degree program, students should be liberally educated. That is, they should understand and appreciate the language, literature and history of our culture; the social, political and economic structure of our society; the creative achievements that enrich our lives; and the basic assumptions and substance of the natural sciences. Honors students are, therefore, encouraged to select courses that provide an understanding of the arts, humanities and sciences.
Honors Advising
Students meet with their Honors College advisors at least once per semester. During advising meetings, students are encouraged to develop long-range plans to organize their academic work and co-curricular experiences in accordance with their interests and career aspirations.
Community
The Stopher-Johnson complex is located at the center of campus. Honors student living there have the best of worlds - a nurturing and stimulating experience with other Honors students as well as convenient access to the surrounding Kent State campus community.
The Honors complex includes the three-story Johnson and Stopher Residence Halls, a library/computer room, a reception lobby and advising offices. Students live just steps from the Honors College dean and its academic advisors.
Student involvement in the affairs of the college is a tradition. For example, Honors students are eligible to serve on the Honors College College Advising Committee.
Scholarships
All new students who are admitted to the Honors College will automatically be considered for an Honors College scholarship award. Honors College scholarships are renewable for maximum eight semesters of undergraduate work, provided students remain in good standing with the Honors College. These scholarships are in addition to university awards.