School of Honors - Course Offerings

Course Offerings

The greatest benefit you can get out of the Honors Program is in the classroom. Honors classes do not require substantially more work, and usually are not graded differently from other classes. Outstanding work in the class will be rewarded with high grades. Honors classes often involve more discussion and interaction between professors and students. Because of their small size, these courses allow students to read, write, and discuss issues that are beyond the scope of larger and more impersonal classes.

There are three types of Honors courses:

1. Honors sections of standard courses already contained within the University curriculum;
2. Honors courses developed specifically for honors students;
3. Contract Honors courses. (Honors students are responsible for contacting individual faculty members and working with them to develop a written plan of study, which will be submitted on an official Honors Contract form to the Honors Director for final approval.)

Honors students are not required to participate in the School of Honors courses. However, they are required of some scholarship recipients and those wishing to graduate with honors. To graduate with University Honors, you will need to take twenty-five credit hours in Honors courses during your college career while maintaining a grade-point average of 3.0 in these classes. Twelve hours of honors course work is recommended at the upper divisional level. Regardless of major, there are elective courses available within the School of Honors. In addition, should there not be enough courses offered in a given semester, the student can ask the professor or the director of the program for permission to arrange a special Honors Contract Course, a class in which you and the professor agree to an additional project for which Honors credit may be obtained.

When you reach campus, or during summer orientation, you should enroll in a special one credit class called SFA 101H. You will receive one hour of Honors credit for the course. It will introduce you to the educational resources at SFA. This class will also provide you with opportunities to meet fellow Honors students and will enhance your study skills and critical thinking ability. Students are also encouraged to sign up for at least one regular Honors course that semester.

You may take an Honors class even if you are not in the School of Honors. You will need to contact both the professor and the Director of the program to discuss your interest in taking the class as a non-Honors student. Upon successful completion of the course, your transcript will show that you have taken the class for Honors credit.

For a schedule of Honors classes available click here.

Top of page

Stephen F. Austin State University

Course Offerings