Launching in Fall 2024, the Hamel Honors and Scholars College will provide a community for academically motivated students who want to take their college education to a higher level.
Honors Community
Welcoming all majors and offering options for personalized studies, the Honors College is home to a diverse group of high-achieving students. Honors Gateway Experiences help to create an environment where our students feel connected to one another in Honors as well as to the entire campus and local community.
Experiential Learning
In the Honors College, we know that learning happens as much outside the classroom as inside it. UNH offers hundreds of high-impact learning experiences that count as Honors Units. An Honors Unit is roughly equivalent to one credit.
Honors Courses
The Honors College has a wide variety of courses that allow students to challenge themselves. Go deep into special topics with great professors in active, stimulating Honors Discovery courses, seminars, and symposia.
The Honors College Curriculum
You choose what experiences will complete your Honors College portfolio. Combine courses with research, travel, and hands-on learning to shape your own path.
32 UNITS = GRADUATE WITH UNIVERSITY HONORS
Overview of Honors Curriculum
The Honors College provides a community for motivated, inquisitive, high achieving students to interact with outstanding faculty while engaging in experiential and community-based learning, external engagement, and meaningful scholarship. In order to honor a commitment to true curricular flexibility and innovation, the Honors College employs a "unit-based" rather than a "credit-based" system for keeping track of students' progress.
Honors Units can be earned from both classroom and non-classroom experiences. The Honors Units are calculated based on credit hours for courses and credit-hour-equivalent time requirements for non-classroom experiences.
The Honors College curriculum can work with your other academic requirements, allowing you to earn Honors units through Honors versions of your major or general education requirements.
What are the requirements that go into the 32 Honors Units?
Every Honors student must complete 32 Units to graduate with University Honors. While you need to have some units in each category, the distribution is up to you! For example, you can take as few as 2 Honors courses (for 8 Units), but if you enjoy our discussion-based seminars, there's no limit on how many you can take. If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can earn most of your Honors Units via high-impact cocurricular experiences like research, study abroad, and project-based learning. An Honors Advisor can help you plan your personal Honors curriculum.
| Categories | # of Units |
|---|---|
| Honors Gateway Experiences | 2 Units |
| Honors Courses | 8-26 Units |
| Cocurricular Experiences | 2-20 Units |
| Culminating Experience (an Honors Thesis, Honors Synthesis, or an Honors in Major Capstone) | 2-8 Units |
| Total | 32 Units |
Possible Paths to Honors Graduation
The flexibility of the Honors College curriculum provides students with an abundance of choices to complete their undergraduate career in a way that favors their special interests. Below are examples of ways Honors students may consider structuring their Honors experience to complete 32 Honors units that most appeals to them academically, socially, and personally.
Honors students work with Honors advisors to establish their personal path, finding the right balance of courses and experiences and the right choice for their culminating project.
