Honors Credit
Students have the following options for earning honors credit: complete an honors course; complete an honors contract; engage in research, independent study, or an experiential endeavor such as an internship; or take a graduate course as an undergraduate student. In addition, students may receive honors credit for participating in a credit-approved study abroad experience; the IU Indianapolis Honors College provides a onetime stipend to all IU Indianapolis Honors College scholars who choose to study abroad for credit. Students must complete and submit the appropriate online application on the IU Indianapolis Honors College website to earn honors credit for all options other than an honors course. All students must contact the IU Indianapolis Honors College assistant dean of academic affairs to obtain authorization to register for an honors course with the exception of business and chemistry courses. Students should contact the appropriate school or department to request authorization for those courses.
Honors courses are offered with limited enrollment and are designed specifically for honors students to facilitate more substantive interaction between students and faculty members. Course offerings vary from semester to semester. A current list of available courses may be found on the IU Indianapolis Honors College website and Canvas site.
There are two honors courses required of all honors students admitted for fall 2022 and thereafter. These are HON-H 200 (1 credit) and HON-H 496 (0–1 credits). These courses must be completed for the student to graduate with the IU Indianapolis Honors College notation on their transcript and diploma.
HON-H 200 Introduction to Honors is a 1 credit hour course designed to introduce students to the IU Indianapolis Honors College community. This course will help students develop their identity as an IU Indianapolis Honors College student; provide opportunities to form connections with honors peers, faculty, and staff; think intentionally about planning their experience as an IU Indianapolis Honors College student to meet their academic and personal goals; and introduce them to their required senior honors ePortfolio. Students admitted as continuing students through their academic school honors program must complete HON-H 200 prior to earning 9 credit hours in honors and prior to requesting the honors study abroad stipend.
Students admitted to the IU Indianapolis Honors College as a continuing student through their academic school’s honors program should enroll in HON-H 200 the first fall semester after being admitted to honors.
Students who are first-year IU Indianapolis Honors College students receiving the Chancellor’s, Bepko, Plater, or Presidential Scholarships should enroll in HON-H 200 in the spring semester of their first year.
In HON-H 496 Honors Senior ePortfolio, students curate their final ePortfolio to demonstrate their honors learning in areas that correspond with the IU Indianapolis Honors College learning goals. The ePortfolio will consist of at least three artifacts, a summary of those artifacts, and a reflection on what those artifacts demonstrate about how students have grown as an honors scholar.
All students enrolled in the IU Indianapolis Honors College are required to complete a senior ePortfolio that demonstrates their honors learning. Students were introduced to the requirement in HON-H 200 and built an initial ePortfolio as an assignment in that course.
All honors scholars have been encouraged in their advising modules on Canvas to populate their ePortfolio every semester. HON-H 496 asks students to review their ePortfolio and curate an honors showcase and reflection that is representative of what they have become as an IU Indianapolis Honors College graduate.
Honors contracts may be completed by an honors scholar and their faculty member to create a special honors section for a regular course. The honors contract, the most common method for earning honors credit, enables qualified students to engage in honors work in regular courses by working with the faculty member to create a special honors project. The student who enters into an honors contract with a faculty member will engage in work beyond what is required for a regular undergraduate course, and the course will be designated as taken for honors credit on the student’s transcript. Honors credit forms must be submitted to the IU Indianapolis Honors College no later than the end of the third week of classes during fall and spring semesters for full-semester courses and by the end of the first week of classes during summer sessions. For courses that are eight weeks or less, contracts are due one week after the class begins. Students may complete a maximum of two honors courses or experiences per semester and one each summer session.
For more information about all of the options for earning honors credit each semester, please visit the IU Indianapolis Honors College website.
Current students who are not in the IU Indianapolis Honors College but have at least a 3.5 GPA may be allowed to complete an honors course or experience with permission from the IU Indianapolis Honors College. However, only students admitted to the IU Indianapolis Honors College are eligible to graduate with honors. Interested students should discuss this option with their academic advisors and then contact the IU Indianapolis Honors College assistant dean of academic affairs for authorization prior to registration.
