University Honors Program

Program Requirements

Honors in General Education

To graduate with Honors in General Education, students achieve a minimum 3.0 GPA in General Education courses and complete the following GE Areas with Honors (HNRS) courses. Honors Program students in their first year should plan ahead and avoid taking non-HNRS courses in the following GE Areas, unless the courses are required for the major.

  • A1 Oral Communication (HNRS 100)
  • B1 Physical Sciences (HNRS 103)
  • C1 Arts (HNRS 101, GC)
  • C2 Humanities (HNRS 102W)
  • F Ethnic Studies (HNRS 300)
  • Upper-Division B Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (HNRS 350)
  • Upper-Division C Arts and Humanities (HNRS 391W or HNRS 392)
  • Upper-Division D Social Sciences (HNRS 390 or HNRS 393, USD)

Honors in Upper-Division General Education

To graduate with Honors in General Education, students achieve a minimum 3.0 GPA in General Education courses and complete the following GE Areas with Honors (HNRS) courses.

  • Upper-Division B Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (HNRS 350)
  • Upper-Division C Arts and Humanities (HNRS 391W or HNRS 392)
  • Upper-Division D Social Sciences (HNRS 390 or HNRS 393, USD)

Completing Additional Graduation Requirements

Students who first enrolled at Chico State as a first-time freshman and complete all required courses for Honors in General Education can fulfill the university’s diversity requirements (USD and GC), and at least one writing (W) course by taking Honors courses. 

Substitutions

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 students who first enrolled at Chico State as a first-time freshman,
    • a maximum of two Honors lower-division GE Areas (A1, B1, C1, C2, or F) may be substituted with 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 (B, C, or D) may be substituted with a required GE course or substitution for their major;
    • Honors GE Area(s) may be substituted by a successful AP, IB, or CLEP test score; and
    • Honors GE Area(s) may be substituted by study abroad courses.
  • For students who first enrolled at Chico State as a transfer student,
    • a maximum of one Honors upper-division GE Area (B, C, or D) may be substituted with a required GE course or substitution for their major; but
    • transfer students must complete at least three Honors (HNRS) courses to graduate with Honors in General Education.