The Honors College advisors are available to assist you in understanding and maintaining your Honors College curriculum. They can answer questions regarding your Honors curriculum requirements, Honors courses and course completion, and Honors graduation status.
Most Honors College students are required to complete at total of 24 Honors units; however, students who join the Honors College after their first year may be exempt from certain requirements. For complete information, please see the TU Undergraduate Catalog or the Honors College Curriculum web page.
In order to remain in good standing, Honors College students must complete a minimum
of 6 Honors unitsby the end of their first year in the college, a minimum of 12 Honors
units by the end of the second year, and a minimum 18 Honors units by the end of the
third year. Honors units are evaluated once per year, after the end of the spring semester.
Students are encouraged to complete additional Honors units by the end of their first year, especially students in some tightly regulated majors. Keep in mind that Honors courses which also fulfill Core requirements are usually lower-level courses which are most appropriate to take during the first two years of study. Please contact your Honors advisor to discuss your progress through the Honors curriculum.
Honors College students must meet certain requirements for their cumulative GPA at
Towson University as well as their GPA in all Honors courses. In Honors courses, the
cumulative GPA requirement is 3.0. For a student's overall TU GPA, the requirement
is a 3.0 from freshman through junior year (determined by completed college credits),
followed by a 3.2 senior year and a 3.3 in order to graduate from Honors. GPAs are
evaluated twice per year, at the end of the spring and fall terms.
Honors College students must earn a letter grade in Honors coursework in order for the course to count towards
Honors requirements. If you select the pass grading option for an Honors course that course will not count
towards your Honors requirements.
Please visit the Office of the Registrar’s Registration website for complete instructions.
No. Students must meet with their major or FYE advisor prior to the registration period.
Only the major or FYE advisor can remove an advising hold. If your Honors advisor
is your FYE advisor then they can remove your advising hold.
Even though Honors College students enjoy early registration, registration times are
staggered throughout the registration day by class. In other words, Honors seniors
register before Honors juniors, who register before Honors sophomores. As a result,
some seminars fill before sophomores and freshmen have a chance to enroll. Sophomores
and freshmen are strongly encouraged to have a “back up” plan ready at their registration
time. The Honors College values opportunities for students to take courses outside
their majors, and students should consider all open course options when the course
they planned on taking is full.
Beginning in fall 2016, all students who joined the Honors College as incoming freshmen
are required to take a TSEM 190 to fulfill their Honors and Core requirements. Even
if a student takes TSEM 102 after joining the Honors College, they will still need
to take TSEM 190 as well.
Students who join the Honors College as current TU students who have already taken a TSEM 102 will be required to take an additional lower-level course instead of an Honors Towson Seminar.
No. Honors courses fulfill only one Honors requirement at a time.
The following Honors courses count as Honors seminars. There are no exceptions or
substitutions for Honors seminars. Please note: not all of these courses are offered
every semester or every year.
It can! ENGL 290 counts as a Lower-Level Honors Course only for students who have
fulfilled or are exempt from the Foundations Honors English requirement. ENGL can
only be taken twice (for a maximum of 6 units) with different topics, whether for
seminar credit, Honors English credit, or some combination thereof.
Yes. Students may take ENGL 290 twice as long as the course topics are different,
and may take HONR 370 any number of times as long as the course topics are different.
If a student wants to replace a grade received in an Honors seminar, they must take
the exact same topic the second time.
Students may choose to do any combination of the following for a total of six units:
For complete details about the Honors electives/experiential and advanced learning options, please see the Experiential and Advanced Learning page.
Honors capstone options are available for students in select majors. The Honors capstone
allows students to complete the Honors electives as part of their major requirements,
much like a departmental honors program. Students should contact the following faculty
if they are interested in the Honors capstone.