University Honors Program

Enjoy a quiet place for studying or relaxing with free snacks, coffee, and printing. The lounge is located in Meriam Library 213, and is open from 8am to 5pm during the semester.

The Honors Program hosts two major events throughout the year: Fall Welcome (the Sunday before the first day of classes) and the Celebration of Excellence (to honor our graduating students in May). Additionally, the program hosts monthly events throughout the semester.

Many Honors courses have general titles (Arts, Humanities, Physical Sciences, Ethnic Studies, and Multidisciplinary Science) so that faculty can teach their expertise in each area. In recent years, “Arts” courses have focused on Modern and Contemporary Art, Creative Writing, Contemporary Poetry, and Photography; “Humanities” courses have focused on Young Adulthood in World Literature; “Physical Sciences” courses have focused on How to Build a Habitable Planet, the topic of Color, and California Water Issues; “Ethnic Studies” courses have focused on American Indian/US Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Chicanx/Latinx Studies; and “Multidisciplinary Sciences” courses have focused on Extinct Worlds, Quantum Mechanics, Human Health Science, Food Studies, and Artificial Intelligence.

In the catalog, explore the Honors Program Courses and their descriptions to see what's in store for your learning journey.

1. Stay curious and open-minded to ideas within and beyond their own experiences, identities, and academic disciplines.
2. Foster a positive and inclusive community within the Honors Program and beyond by practicing kindness, empathy, and respect.
3. Build and maintain interdisciplinary and interpersonal relationships by working together on big questions in the arts, ethnic studies, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
4. Investigate and join conversations about issues of structural violence, which may include racism, marginalization, oppression, the erosion of democratic institutions, and environmental injustice.
5. Understand how to create actionable change in local, regional, and global communities.
6. Apply interdisciplinary methodologies to design and execute a significant creative project, leadership project, or research project.

Freshmen should enroll in one of the following lower-division Honors General Education courses for their first semester if possible:

• HNRS 100 Communication and Social Change (1C Oral Communication)
• HNRS 101 Arts (3A Arts)
• HNRS 102W Humanities (3B Humanities)
• HNRS 103 Physical Sciences (5A Physical Science):Note HNRS 103 is a three-unit course without a lab, so most Honors students will eventually need a four-unit 5B Biological Science course with a lab to complete the lower-division GE science requirements.

Unless required for the major, freshmen should not register for a non-Honors GE course in the following areas as students will fulfill these GE areas with Honors courses:

• 1C Oral Communication (HNRS 100)
• 3A Arts (HNRS 101)
• 3B Humanities (HNRS 102W)
• 5A Physical Sciences (HNRS 103)
• 6 Ethnic Studies (HNRS 300)
• Upper-Division 5 Physical and Biological Sciences (HNRS 350)
• Upper-Division 3 Arts and Humanities (HNRS 391W or HNRS 392 or HNRS 303)
• Upper-Division 4 Social and Behavioral Sciences (HNRS 390 or HNRS 393 or HNRS 304)

Transfer students are welcome to enroll in HNRS 350 Multi-disciplinary Science (Upper-Division 5), or HNRS 390 Interdisciplinary Thesis or Creative Project 1 (Upper-Division 4), or HNRS 392Leadership, Power, and Change: Theory (Upper-Division 3) for the fall semester. Alternatively, transfer students may take their first Honors course in the spring. 

Notice: Honors students fulfill the Upper-Division GE Pathway requirement with Honors courses. Unless required for the major, students should not register for a non-Honors GE course in the following areas: 

• Upper-Division 3 Arts and Humanities (HNRS 391W or HNRS 392 or HNRS 303)
• Upper-Division 4 Social and Behavioral Sciences (HNRS 390 or HNRS 393 or HNRS 304)
• Upper-Division 5 Physical and Biological Sciences (HNRS 350)

View the capstone projects for HNRS 390 and 391W.

Any student who is eager to learn about topics beyond their major and discuss books and big ideas with award-winning and content-expert faculty in small classes.

Any current or admitted Chico State student who is committed to excellence may enroll in the Honors Program. For admitted freshmen, there are no GPA or test-score requirements to enroll. For transfer/continuing students, there is a 3.0 GPA requirement to enroll.

The Honors faculty ask that students be curious and care about the well-being of others.

Enroll as soon as possible. Space is limited, and the enrollment period will conclude when we have reached capacity.

Before enrolling, students in the following high-unit majors must first receive permission from Honors advisor Tricia Sweet:

• Computer Information Systems
• Computer Science
• Liberal Studies (a BA degree for students planning to apply to a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential program)
• Mathematics (Option in Mathematics Education)
• Music (Option in Music Education)
• Nursing and Pre-Nursing

These majors require multiple and specific non-Honors courses for Honors GE Areas, and Honors students from these majors commit to re-taking at least one GE Area (thus adding units to graduation).

Enrolling in the Honors Program only requires a few clicks and then you will complete your enrollment by either:

1. Uploading a file of something that you are proud of (either something that you have created or a description of something that you have accomplished); or
2. Speaking with an Honors Program staff member at a recruitment event (for admitted students) or with the Honors Program director (for continuing students)

Due to capacity, the Honors Program is no longer able to enroll new transfer students or continuing students. Please check back in late September.

For Honors in General Education:

• Area 1C Oral Communication (HNRS 100)
• Area 3A Arts (HNRS 101)
• Area 3B Humanities (HNRS 102W)
• Area 5A Physical Sciences (HNRS 103)
• Area 6 Ethnic Studies (HNRS 300)
• Upper-Division 3 Arts and Humanities (HNRS 303, HNRS 391W or HNRS 392)
• Upper-Division 4 Social Sciences (HNRS 304, HNRS 390 or HNRS 393)
• Upper-Division 5 Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (HNRS 305 or HNRS 350)

For Honors in Upper-Division General Education:

• Upper-Division 3 Arts and Humanities (HNRS 303, HNRS 391W or HNRS 392)
• Upper-Division 4 Social Sciences (HNRS 304,HNRS 390 or HNRS 393)
• Upper-Division 5 Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (HNRS 305 or HNRS 350)

Easy! Just complete these steps:

1. Talk to Tricia Sweet, Honors Advisor
2. Email registrar@csuchico.edu and request to drop Honors in GE (remember to provide your student ID number).
3. Create a plan change form by logging in and entering your student ID number, select "certificate" and "add" and select "Honors in Upper Division General Education" from the dropdown menu and finally click "save/print".
4. Email the downloaded file to jnice@csuchico.edu, and in your email, simply request that you would like to change from Honors in GE to Honors in Upper-Division GE.

In some cases, students are unable to complete all course requirements. In these cases, students may request the following substitutions from the Honors Advisor or Honors Director.

For Honors in General Education

• a maximum of two Honors lower-division GE Areas (1C, 3A, 3B, 5A, or 6) may be substituted with a required GE course(s) for the major or with courses completed prior to admission to Honors;
• a maximum of one Honors upper-division GE Area (3, 4, or 5) may be substituted with a required GE course or substitution for their major;
• Honors GE Area(s) may be substituted with a successful AP, IB, or CLEP test score; and
• Honors GE Area(s) may be substituted with study abroad courses.

For Honors in Upper-Division General Education

• a maximum of one Honors upper-division GE Area (3, 4, or 5) may be substituted with a required GE course or substitution for their major; and
• transfer students must complete at least three Honors (HNRS) courses to graduate with Honors in General Education.

At this time, the Honors Program is not a good fit for students in fully online degree programs.

No problem! If you'd like to leave the program - and not graduate with Honors in General Education - just complete these steps:

1. Talk to Tricia Sweet, Honors Advisor
2. Send an email with your student ID number and a request to drop Honors in General Education to registrar@csuchico.edu and jnice@csuchico.edu.

Yes! The Honors Program recognizes that historically underserved students have not had equal access to Honors programming in high school and college, and we seek to maximize the recruitment, retention, support, and graduation of diverse students. The Honors Program is committed to supporting an inclusive, accessible, and equitable learning environment that embraces diversity of thought, freedom of expression, and respect for others.

No, the Honors Program is Honors in General Education. Honors in the Major is a program of independent work in your major. See the Honors University Catalog for a definition of Honors in the Major, as well as information about the Dean's List and Honors at Graduation (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude)

Honors students have direct access to the program director and to the program advisor. The program also conducts course evaluations for each Honors class every semester, soliciting the anonymous input of all students in the class. These evaluations encourage students to share their opinions regarding Honors classes and the program in general. Finally, an Honors Student Advisory Council (open to all) provides a formal mechanism for students to provide input to the Honors Director.

Yes. The Honors program, besides accommodating about half the Honors Freshmen in the Honors Housing, sponsors program-wide events every year – all involving free food and socializing: a fall welcome, a finals fuel-up at the end of each semester, as well as Celebration of Excellence for graduates. We also have monthly events in the Honors Lounge (such as cookie decorating, ice cream socials, etc.).

Yes! The Honors Program encourages its students to study abroad and offers one of the most flexible ways to study abroad while completing General Education requirements. Go to the study abroad website for more information about their programs, and make sure to stop in to speak with an Honors advisor before you leave.