Brief Overview of the Program

The Honors Program welcomes highly motivated students who demonstrated academic excellence in high school or in the first and second semesters at Philadelphia University.

Participants in the Honors Program enjoy advanced levels of inquiry, smaller class sizes, and seminar style instruction in Honors sections of College Studies courses. In many cases, Honors classes offer opportunities to take advantage of co-curricular experiences in the form of field trips, guest lectures, etc. that help interpret the course material. In addition, Honors Students can arrange extended borrowing privileges at the University’s library.

Honors Program students are required to complete 7 Honors courses. Exciting options for honors credit range from the traditional honors courses to individualizing your college experience while studying abroad, taking on a leadership role in a community service project, or tailoring a research project. The senior year Capstone course, Contemporary Perspectives, must be taken at the Honors level. In special cases, students can arrange a guided project in courses in their major (Upgrades). Honors course offerings are listed each semester in the University’s course schedule booklets. Students enrolled in Honors courses must take the course for a letter grade. The “pass/ fail” or “credit/ no credit” option is not available for Honors Courses.

Enrollment in Honors courses is designated on the university transcript as the work is completed and remains part of the student’s permanent academic record. Honors Program students’ academic records are reviewed periodically to assure that participants are making acceptable progress toward graduating with the designation of Honors Scholar.

There are a number of co-curricular activities including travel to National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) conferences and local field trips.

Honors Program Graduates

Students successfully completing all Honors Program requirements with a minimum GPA of 3.3 receive special recognition at graduation as Distinguished Honors Scholar, the Honors Medallion, and the Honors Certificate, as well as the Philadelphia University diploma. All honors work is reflected on the Official Transcript.