How to Meet the Honors Credit Requirements
While most Scholars will meet the majority of their honors credit requirements through honors courses, there are six ways to receive honors credits.
From honors options to advanced-level courses, this page will provide more information about the options available to you.
Note: A grade of C or higher (or Satisfactory for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading) is required for an honors course to meet the honors credit requirements.
Honors Courses
Honors courses are at the core of the Scholar experience. They are small (generally capped at 20 to 25 students) and driven by dynamic discussions and exploration. We offer more than 300 honors courses across a variety of subjects. First-year and second-year students typically fulfill most of their honors requirements with honors courses.
Honors Options
An honors option is an agreement between you and a course instructor to incorporate honors elements into a non-honors course. An honors option:
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Gives a completed course an honors attribute on your transcript
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Provides significant enrichment without changing the core course
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Accounts for between 10 and 25 percent of the course grade
Honors Option Deadline
The Honors Option request form in the Student Records System (SRS) asks for course expectations and timelines. The Honors Option request deadline is the fourth Friday of the semester.
How to Request an Honors Option
Instructor Discussion
Have a discussion with your instructor* at the beginning of the semester about honors optioning their course. Choose a course instructor your enjoy and work with them closely to determine the design of your Honors Option.
Honors Option Submission
Formally request your Honors Option by filling out the request form in Schreyer's Student Records System (SRS)
Instructor Review and Approval
The Honors Option form will go to your course instructor first for their review and approval.
Honors Adviser Review and Approval
After being approved by the course instructor, your honors adviser reviews and approves the Honors Option.
Schreyer Processing
Finally, the Schreyer Honors College reviews and processes the Honors Option for your course.
Email Confirmation
Once processed, you will receive a confirmation email from the Schreyer Honors College. All Honors Option work after the confirmation email will occur between you and your course instructor.
* Adjunct professors and graduate students may not instruct Honors Options
If you attend a Commonwealth Campus with its own honors option request process, you must also submit the Schreyer request through SRS in order to receive credit.
If an honors option needs to be withdrawn, the Scholar must provide the course information by emailing SHCAcademics@psu.edu and copying the instructor on that email by the last day of classes.
Honors Option Models
The honors option is a creative, scholarly project designed by you and your instructor. Examples include more extensive or different kinds of research, class presentations, creating teaching materials designed for fellow students, or composing a researched creative composition.
A review essay, which is a comparative analysis of several pieces of scholarly literature on a particular topic, can also be a very strong project for an honors option.
Any course, including 100-level courses or general education courses, can be honors optioned. In some cases, an honors option can lead to thesis research.
Thesis Research Credits
Six thesis research credits can be applied towards the 14-credit upper-division honors credit requirement. These credits are typically taken over the course of your final semesters. Discuss the number of credits to take each semester with your thesis supervisor. You must talk to your honors adviser to learn how to register for these credits in your department.
These credits typically carry the course number 494H with your thesis supervisor as the course instructor. If your department's 494 course does not have an "H" suffix, submit an Honors Option request by the fourth Friday of the semester, indicating that this course is counting towards your thesis research credits.
Independent Research Credits
You can receive honors credit for a course created to pursue your specialized interest (other than thesis work) under the supervision of a faculty member. These courses typically carry the course numbers 294, 296, or 496 and are titled "independent research." Some departments have an "H" suffix or an embedded honors course designation for these courses. If the department does not offer those designations, submit an Honors Option request by the fourth Friday of the semester to receive honors credit for the work.
Advanced-Level Courses
Advanced coursework can count toward honors credits in two ways. These courses will be counted on your Honors Audit but not noted as honors credits on the transcript.
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400-level courses during the lower division (first and second year at Penn State)
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500-level courses and above during the upper division (third and fourth year at Penn State)
Study Abroad Credits
There are three ways to receive honors credit for study abroad:
Schreyer Signature Study Abroad Programs automatically carry honors credit
Penn State study abroad programs may offer an Honors Option
For other credit-bearing study abroad programs, you can submit an honors-credit-waiver petition in SRS
Honors Credit Waiver Guidelines
- One Semester (fall or spring): 3 credits (4 credits if primarily in a language other than English)
- Full Academic Year: 6 credits (8 credits if primarily in a language other than English)
- Summer or Other Short-Term Trips: 1 credit for 10 days to 4 weeks; 2 credits for more than 4 weeks abroad
You may not receive both honors credit and an honors-credit-waiver for a single study abroad experience.