Honors Program
The Honors program provides a challenging intellectual community and engaging co-curricular programming to participants. The program offers honors sections of core courses, occasional honors electives, and honors options in major courses designed to appeal to the more academically committed student.
Honors Program students have access to many benefits, including:
- Honors-dedicated sections of the first-year seminar and composition courses, taught by select faculty who take a special interest in working with highly motivated students;
- The opportunity to work individually with faculty on specific projects that transform a normally scheduled course into an Honors experience;
- Participation in regional and national conferences sponsored by the National Collegiate Honors Council;
- Membership in the Franklin Pierce University Honors Student Council and the opportunity to serve in a leadership position on the Honors Council, along with administration, faculty and staff;
- Opportunities to live in Honors residence halls;
- Access to the Honors Lounge;
- Invitations to participate in social activities and trips sponsored by the Honors Program;
- Special recognition for completing the Honors Program at graduation and on transcripts;
- An enhanced résumé and graduate school application; and
- A deeper and broader undergraduate academic and social experience.
Honors Program students come to Franklin Pierce University seeking academic, research, and social opportunities outside the classroom to complement their programs of study. They submit papers, posters, and roundtable topic proposals to present their work at regional and national conferences where they engage with Honors Program students from across the region and the nation. In recent years, our Honors Students have presented work at conferences in Pittsburgh, PA, Providence, RI, and Boston, MA.
A select number of freshman applicants are invited to join the Honors program when they are offered admission to the University. Selection is based on high school academic performance, and evidence of potential for academic excellence at the at the Rindge campus. Students who have completed at least one semester at Franklin Pierce with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.40 or higher will also be invited to join the Honors program. Outstanding transfer students will be considered, and faculty members may nominate students for the Honors program.
Successful completion of the Honors program requires a cumulative grade point average of 3.40 or higher and completion of seven honors courses (21 or more credits), at least two of which are at the 300- or 400-level (6 or more credits).
No more than three Honors-designated courses may be transferred from another institution. Students are expected to maintain the required cumulative grade point average throughout their undergraduate career. Should their cumulative grade point average drop below 3.4, a student will be placed on Honors Program probation for the following semester. If their cumulative grade point average is still below 3.4 at the conclusion of the next or any subsequent semester, they will be permanently withdrawn from the Honors Program. If an Honors Program student is found guilty of any form of academic dishonesty as defined in this catalog, they are subject to permanent withdrawal from the Honors program. Students may appeal to the appropriate Dean no later than thirty days after formal notification of their withdrawal. Completion of the Honors program will be designated on the student’s transcript and diploma, and students will receive a commemorative Honors Medal at graduation.
