Admission to Honors

Student standing on campus with backpack

The Honors College application for spring/fall 2026 is now open for prospective first-year students! Apply through the TU application.

Incoming students

Complete your TU Application and miss Honors?

Submit Honors Application Materials

Already a TU student and want to join the Honors College?

Current TU students

The Towson University Honors College provides students the opportunity to think big ideas, pursue deep inquiry, and discover how innovation leads to achievement through a challenging curriculum which meets the unique academic needs and interests of Honors students. Honors students explore their interests and cultivate their talents through a distinct blend of academic and co-curricular activities supported by a community of motivated students and faculty. Honors students have the opportunity to live and learn in a residential environment while pursuing internship, leadership, research, and service opportunities, and they strive to make the world a better place.

Benefits of the Honors College

Innovative Curriculum and Small Classes


Students are encouraged to complete Honors work that includes co-curricular activities such as leadership workshops, service-learning experiences, and civic engagement. Honors students participate in a flexible curriculum.

  • Classroom experiences: Discussion-based seminars give students an opportunity to work closely with the Honors College faculty in small classroom settings.
  • Experiential learning: Students work with faculty within specific academic departments on research projects, thesis writing, service-learning, independent study, and internships.

Engaged Community

An engaged community of scholars is a defining characteristic of the Honors experience. We emphasize leadership development, social and civic engagement activities, and programs that build meaningful relationships in and out of the classroom.

To foster that sense of community at the residential level on campus, all incoming Honors College students who choose to live on campus are placed in Frederick Douglass House. One of Towson University's residence halls in West Village, Douglass House is the Honors College Living Learning Community, created in partnership with the Department of Housing & Residence Life. The benefits of Honors housing are many and include the possibility of classes taught within Douglass House, access to a book exchange, and specific move-in dates at the start of fall term.

Specialized Advising

Honors College faculty work closely with students to design and to complete their Honors curriculum. Freshmen work with designated First-Year Experience advisers with Honors expertise in colleges and departments who help students make curriculum decisions that address their interests and needs, and beginning sophomore year students work with Honors advisers housed within the Honors College in addition to their major advisors. Honors advisers can also provide advice on career preparation, personal and leadership development, and undergraduate research opportunities.

Priority Registration

Continuing students in the Honors College receive priority course registration, thus avoiding many scheduling conflicts. Honors priority registration occurs before the ordinary registration period for continuing students, so even Honors freshmen register for courses before most TU seniors who are not in the Honors College.

Funding Opportunities

The primary award associated with the Honors College is the Honors College Scholarship. All incoming freshman and transfer students joining TU in the fall term will be automatically considered for this scholarship in the amount of $1,250. The Honors College Scholarship is usually offered in addition to any other scholarships a student may have been awarded by Towson University, and it is an annual award which may only be applied towards educational expenses for full-time fall and spring term undergraduate enrollment at TU. Scholarships may be received for a maximum of eight consecutive terms if entering as a freshman, or up to seven consecutive terms if entering as a transfer student, based on number of completed college credits at the time of entry.

In addition, Honors students are eligible for other Honors-only financial support such as the Honorables of Color Scholarship for students who support marginalized communities and the Honors College Study Abroad Award to pursue study abroad experiences.

800

Current number of Honors College students, and we're still growing.

80%

Portion of Honors College students who graduate in four years or fewer.

70%

Percentage of Honors College graduates who undertake experiential and advanced learning.

Application Process

All applicants to the Honors College must submit the following:

  • An essay, 500–750 words in length, responding to one of five Honors-specific prompts
  • List of extracurricular activities

All applicants to TU submit the following material, which are also used in Honors decisions:

  • High school transcripts (freshmen applicants only) and/or college transcripts (transfer applicants, freshmen applicants when applicable)

Applicants to the Honors College have the option to submit the following for consideration:

  • SAT or ACT exam scores (freshmen applicants only)
  • One letter of recommendation from a major subject teacher [see below for further instructions]

Application Prompts

The Honors College application's prompts for the essay and letter of recommendation for spring and fall 2026 admission are listed below.

Essay Prompts

Please attach an essay, 500–750 words in length, that answers all parts of one of the prompts listed below:

  1. The Honors College is a challenging academic and intellectual environment well suited to individuals who seek to expand their knowledge and experiences. Craft an essay centered on an academic assignment you enjoyed doing. Under what circumstances did you undertake this assignment? What made it enjoyable to you? Apart from the specific knowledge associated with the assignment, did you learn any larger lessons? If so, what were they, and how have they made you the person you are now?
  2. A community is a group of individuals bound together by shared values and mutual obligations. Like all things, the maintenance of a community takes work, sometimes via volunteerism. This work can take many forms, depending on the needs and nature of the community in question. Typically, Honors College students participate in a variety of communities and enrich them in various ways. Discuss a community involvement project in which you participated that you found impactful. Why do you think it was so impactful? Who was impacted and how enduringly? How does the project you selected inform your potential participation in the Towson University Honors College community?
  3. Sometimes food gains a seasoning of cultural meanings. People who might otherwise disdain them crave hot dogs at a ballpark. In the 1970s, one company tried to identify their brand with patriotic Americanism using the jingle “Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet.” Marcel Proust wrote his seven-volume novel Remembrance of Things Past (the English title) to probe a whole cultural experience and the idea of involuntary memory, for which the emblematic example early in the first volume was a powerful reaction to the taste of a madeleine (a small cake) that called forth a rush of memories from his childhood. Is there a food in your personal experience or in the larger communities of which you are a part that carries important cultural meaning for you or for your networks? Why? What is involved in such a connection? What meaning could you attribute to it that reaches beyond an individual experience? Be bold and speculative in thinking about what that food connection might embody.
  4. As the United States population lives longer, the number of intergenerational connections every American experiences will increase. These connections can be familial, social, professional, or cultural and frequently are of more than one single type. Because each generation is shaped by unique circumstances, the likelihood of differences is strong. However, a healthy society is one that ensures a place for all. Describe how intergenerational connections inform your life. What challenges do you experience as you navigate these connections? What benefits do you derive from them? How do you think members of other generations would describe the challenges and benefits of interacting with you? Overall, how can we best navigate intergenerational differences for all?

Letter of Recommendation Prompt (optional)

Students may have an optional letter of recommendation from a teacher in a major subject area included in their Honors consideration. For some students, letters of recommendation can help us better understand what drives you, explain circumstances that have had a distinct effect on your studies, or otherwise provide a fuller picture of the applicant. Should you choose to request a letter, your recommender is encouraged to consider the following questions:

  1. Does the student show curiosity in reaching beyond what is immediately required or expected?
  2. Does the student contribute constructively in groups? Can you provide an example?
  3. Would you look forward to having this student in class again? Why or why not?
  4. If you could suggest an improvement in this student's approach to their own education, what would it be?

Your letter may be uploaded through the TU application, sent to TU via Naviance, or your recommender may send it directly to .