What are the criteria for admission to the Upper Division Honors Program?

Honors students explore current topics in any of the many discipline areas from the College. To be considered for the upper division Honors Program, students must have completed at least 60 semester credits and have a cumulative U of MN GPA of 3.3 or higher.

Students who successfully complete the Lower Division Honors Program will be automatically admitted to the Upper Division program.

What is the application deadline for the Upper Division Honors Program?

Applications are considered on a continuous basis. However, students must be admitted to the Upper Division Honors Program before beginning classes in their senior year in the College.

What are the application procedures for admission to the Upper Division Honors Program?

The Application for CFANS Upper Division Honors is available in the College Office, 190 Coffey Hall.  It is also available online at the forms link from the honors home page. http://www.cfans.umn.edu/forms_and_applications

How do I qualify to graduate with Latin honors?

Participation in the honors program is required for graduation with the traditional honors designations Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude. Candidates for graduation with honors must do the following:

1. Complete at least 60 credits of coursework at the University of Minnesota during your last two years of enrollment.

2. Your must register for at least one semester of CFAN 3101H Honors Seminar. These seminars are topics courses of broad interest inviting all CFANS Honors Students from the various disciplines to participate

3. Complete an additional upper division Honors registration.  This may include a second registration of CFANS 3101H or any other upper division honors course from the class schedule.

4.  Students must also complete an Honors Experience (Honors Research or unique Honors Project).  This requires an oral presentation to one of the CFANS Honors Colloquia or Honors Seminars. Generally students will register for CFAN 3100H, but other options are encouraged. For example, you may decide to apply for a UROP grant to conduct independent research.  For more information on the Honors Experience, please contact Gary Cooper 612-625-0213.

Note: It is highly recommended that honors students consider applying for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program as a starting point for their honors research project. Honors students must receive approval of their intent to combine UROP with their honors research project in advance by the College Honors Program Coordinator.

5. Complete the last 60 credits of registration (U of MN course work only) with the minimum GPAs specified below. The honors GPA is automatically calculated on the Academic Audit Progress System (APAS) report; the report is available in the Student Services office. Transcripts of students graduating with honors will show one of the following:

      Cum Laude - minimum 3.500 GPA
      Magna Cum Laude - minimum 3.666 GPA
      Summa Cum Laude - minimum 3.750 GPA.

Students will also receive the appropriate recognition during commencement.

6. Finally, submit a copy of the final draft of your thesis/research paper to the CFANS Honors Program Coordinator on or before the last day of classes in the semester in which you plan to graduate. The final copy must have the title sheet signed by your project faculty mentor.  Honors theses are permanently filed in the Student Services office and are available for review by students, faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota.

Can I graduate with Latin Honors and with Distinction?

Yes! Honors students may graduate both with Latin Honors and "with distinction" or "with high distinction". To graduate "with distinction," a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.750 or higher at the time the student graduates. To graduate "with high distinction," a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.900 or higher.

However, only Honors students can graduate with both levels of recognition. Non-Honors Program students qualify only to be recognized "with distinction" or "with high distinction". You can check the University of Minnesota's Degrees With Distinction and Degrees with Honors policy for more detailed information.

Do you have some good references for how to design my research project?

Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Sommer, B. and R. Sommer. 1997. A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research: Tools and Techniques--4th Edition. Oxford University Press: New York, NY. (Chapter 20: "Writing and Reviewing a Research Report" is especially helpful. It goes step by step how to write a journal article and how to write a technical report.)

Browne, M.N. and S.M. Keeley. 1998. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking 5th Edition. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle, NJ.
How do I get more information about the Honors Program?