Are you ready for a life-changing experience? The Honors College will inspire and challenge you for a lifetime of learning and making meaningful connections. To stay in the program, you must maintain an overall grade point average of 3.33 or higher (on a 4.0 scale). In order to graduate, you must complete the following robust curricula:

  • Honors Core Curriculum
  • Honors Colloquia
  • Honors Senior Project
Honors Curriculum

Honors Curriculum

The Honors College curriculum introduces students to honors education through a diverse selection of courses. The curriculum is 19.5-21.5 total credit hours; 7.5-9.5 of these credit hours are defined courses in the Honors College. These include the First-Year Experience, Junior Seminar, and Senior Capstone.

The remaining 12 credit hours provide flexibility for students to pursue their own interests through HONR courses., H-Sections, or study abroad. Students may also choose to use these credit hours to complete the Cardinal Core through the Honors Ways of Knowing or Honors in Practice Beneficence Theme.

First-Year Experience (3.5 credits)

HONR 100: Peer Mentor Class (0.5 credits)
HONR 101: Introduction to Honors Ways of Knowing (3 credits)

Elective Courses (12 credits)

Flexible Options - Students are required to take 12 credit hours of honors electives, which can include the following:

Honors Ways of Knowing (Cardinal Core):
HONR 179: Honors Introduction to Science and Society
HONR 189: Honors Introduction to Global and Social Issues
HONR 190: Honors Introduction to Humanities and the Arts

Honors in Practice Beneficence Theme (Cardinal Core):
HONR 204: Dynamic Perspectives in Natural Sciences
HONR 205: Dynamic Perspectives in Social and Behavioral Sciences
HONR 206: Dynamic Perspectives in Humanities, Arts, and Design

Existing HONR Courses:
HONR 201: Inquires in the Earliest of Cultures to ca. 500 CE
HONR 202: Inquires in Cultures from ca. 500 CE to ca. 1800 CE
HONR 203: Inquires in Cultures from ca. 1800 to the Present
HONR 199: Inquiries in Contemporary American Civilization
HONR 300: Leadership Seminar
HONR 310: Honors Foreign Study (Study Abroad)
HONR 369: Honors Professional Experience
HONR 479: Honors Practical Experience
HONR 490: Honors Independent Study

Approved "H" Sections
Study Abroad

Students can also take additional HONR 390 or HONR 491 but cannot double-count toward the 12 credits and the junior/senior requirement.

Junior Seminar

Honors College students must take one honors colloquia (1-3 credits). These special classes, available for a maximum of 15 students, explore topics not normally offered, or not offered in depth, in the Ball State curriculum. Some colloquia are offered year after year, but many may be offered only once while you’re at Ball State.

Students choose one of the following:
HONR 390: Honors Colloquium (1-3 credits)
HONR 491: Honors Junior/Senior Interdisciplinary Seminar (3 credits)

Fall 2026 Topics

  • Community & Connection in Muncie: Systems, Spaces, and Civic Life (1 credit)
  • Storytelling in 3D Graphics and Virtual World (3 credits)
  • Rethinking Normalcy (3 credits)
  • Stories that Matter: Community Storytelling for Public Impact (3 credits)
  • Citizenship, Community, and Leadership (3 credits)
  • Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Fiction (3 credits)
  • Folklore and Nonhuman Animals (3 credits)
  • Women and Design in the Built Environment (3 credits)
  • The Book is Dead/Long Live the Book (3 credits)
  • Bond. James Bond as a Cultural Icon (2 credits)

Senior Capstone

The required capstone experience for each Honors College student is a senior honors capstone (3 credits), which is normally completed in the seventh or eighth semester. 

All Seniors should register for HONR 400 in the semester they intend to graduate. 

The majority of honors students complete this requirement through the capstone in their major or minor, and others choose to complete this requirement via HONR 499, an independent study course with the professor of the student's choosing. Current students should refer to the Community: Honors College Canvas page for forms and further information about enrolling in HONR 499 or substituting a capstone course in your major or minor.

Students need to complete a capstone project for 3 credits:
HONR 400: Honors Senior Checklist (0 credits)
HONR 499: Honors Senior Project (3 credits)
or
Approved Capstone Substitution in Student's Major

Requirements for staying in the Honors College

Students admitted to the Honors College must make regular progress in the Honors curriculum.

In order to graduate with an Honors diploma, students must complete the Honors curriculum and finish with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.33.

Scholarships

Diploma

On top of the dozens of funding options Ball State offers its students, those in our program have scholarships specifically for them. Learn more.

Questions?

Two full-time academic advisors in the Honors College specialize in working with honors students: Sarah Haley and Alison Kerch.

Please contact your designated Honors advisor if you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment.

Ready to Apply?

Have you decided that you’re ready to truly test yourself intellectually and discover new ways to look at the world around you? Then it’s time to apply.

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