Honors Program

"Liberal arts education encourages you to appreciate and expand your idea of what it means to be human in different ways. Those tools are indispensable in this day and age."
France Córdova
President, Purdue University

Quick Facts

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  • The staff in the Honors Office is available for one-on-one career and academic counseling.
  • Information is available in the Honors Office concerning scholarships, fellowships, courses, seminars, events, and academic planning. The office is open Monday through Friday from approximately 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and everyone is welcome to stop by and visit.
  • If you are a continuing student, the only requirement for you to take Honors courses is a cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0 or higher. If you are a first semester student, you must have an SAT (verbal, written, and math) score of 1800, ACT score of 26, or be in the top 10% of your high school class.
  • You do not need to be in the College of Liberal Arts to take Honors courses.
  • You have three options when taking Honors courses: Honors-Only courses are courses for CLA Honors students or students who meet Honors requirements; Honors-Option courses are where students meet with the regular section of that course, but do an outside project usually arranged by the professor; Honors Contract Courses enables students to earn Honors credit by the student arranging with a professor a special Honors assignment (This assignment must be approved by the Director of the Honors Program. Please stop by the CLA Honors Program office to pick up an Honors Contract Courses form).
  • You can take as many or as few Honors courses as you like, with or without the intent of graduating with College Honors.
  • To graduate with College Honors you must apply to be a member of the Honors program (see "Apply Here" in the left-hand menu). 
  • You must have (and maintain) a cumulative Purdue GPA of 3.3/4.0 or better to be eligible to apply.
  • Members of the Honors program are eligible to graduate with College Honors, receive Honors Merit Scholarships, and receive free and discount tickets to Purdue Convocations shows.
  • To graduate with College Honors, you only need 24 credit hours (8 courses). This is only one Honors course a semester for four years.
  • The Honors Program sponsors and subsidizes a number of social, cultural, and specialized academic events each semester.


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