Ron & Laura Strain Honors College

James B. Williams, Dean and Associate Professor

Greg Shufeldt, Associate Dean and Associate Professor

The Strain Honors College is an academic offering of classes and experiences designed to enrich students’ education and inspire an extraordinary undergraduate foundation by bringing together a community of students and faculty devoted to the love of learning, career preparation, and pursuing life’s most important questions inside and outside the classroom. Honors students enhance their education with thought-provoking courses, independent study, and leadership and service opportunities. Students engage in scholarship under the guidance of a faculty member for a unique Honors project capstone of their choosing and exchange ideas with outstanding students. Students who fulfill all the Honors College concentration requirements will graduate "with distinction," which is noted at commencement, on the student's diploma, and on the student's transcript, providing a lifelong representation of the outstanding accomplishments they achieved through their scholarly pursuits.

UIndy's Honors College is open to high-achieving students no matter their undergraduate major, allowing students to shape their Honors College experience around their academic goals. Admission is determined based on a student's performance at their previous institution and their response to a short essay question.

Honors Degree Requirements

To receive a baccalaureate degree “with distinction,” students must:

Complete 12-15 credit hours of honors coursework (at least 3 honors credits per academic year) in honors designated classes or honors options of regular classes.Complete .5 credit HON 400 “Scholarly Exploration,” a course designed to help students understand the research process and to create their own honors project idea.
Complete .5 credit HON 410 “Honors Proposal,” a course to enable student creation of a formal proposal for an honors project that will be reviewed by a faculty committee for approval, or a designated course equivalent.
Complete 1-5 credit hours of HON 490 “Honors Project,” an independent course under a faculty mentor to launch and report on the student’s honors project. Capstone overlaps in certain disciplines are available to utilize as HON 490 equivalent hours. The final Honors Project manuscript must meet the approval of the Honors College Committee.
Earn an overall GPA of 3.3 or higher.
Successfully complete at least 18 total hours of Honors College credit.

Contact the Dean of the Ron and Laura Strain Honors College to obtain detailed information regarding Honors Project requirements and the proposal process. Note: Students may register for HON-490 only after the Honors College Committee has approved the Honors project proposal.

Honors Courses

Please check the current class schedules for the availability of Honors courses. In addition, any course can be taken for honors credit (as an Honors Option) with the approval of the Honors College Committee and the Instructor of Record for the course. Alternate ways of accruing honors credit include:

Participate in Honors Service Learning
Travel abroad (approval required for credit)
Participate in National Collegiate Honors Council Honors Semester
Successfully complete an approved graduate course (approval required for credit)
Earn a grade of B (3.0) or above in designated interinstitutional events (lectures, conferences, field trips, or research opportunities available through other campuses or organizations)