Honors Program
The mission of the Trine University Honors Program is to provide support, resources, and academic experiences to high achieving and highly motivated students, thus allowing them to grow intellectually and become active independent learners. A student in the Honors Program would be exposed to a breadth of teaching methods and topics and, through this exposure, will have a more fulfilling and varied educational experience.
Admission Requirements
First-year students accepted to any Trine University program with a minimum SAT of 1220/ACT 27 and a High School GPA of 3.750 or higher may be invited into the Honors Program. The Honors Program Director will review qualifications of incoming freshmen and will make recommendations for admittance, which will then go before the Honors Program Advisory Board for final approval. Current Trine University freshmen or sophomores may also apply for admission into the Honors Program. These students must notify the Honors Program Director of their intentions, have a current Trine University GPA of 3.500 or higher, and must submit a letter of recommendation from a Trine University faculty member. Decisions regarding admission will be made on a case-by-case basis as space allows.
Program Requirements
Students accepted into the Honors Program will need to earn 22 Honors Program Points and satisfy the basic requirements for each category listed below. In addition, students also must maintain a 3.500 GPA to successfully earn an Honors Degree.
HNR 121 Introduction to Honors Seminar (1 pt )
Honors students are required to take this course their first semester in the Honors Program.
Honors Courses/Contract Courses (13 - 16 pts)
Honors students are required to compile at least 13 points with any combination of dedicated HNR courses, honors sections of regularly offered courses, or contract courses in their departments. Contract courses are a regularly offered Trine University course in which the instructor and honors student agree on additional requirements to enrich the experience. For HNR courses and honors sections of courses, the credits for each course will directly correlate to the number of points earned. Contract course points will vary depending on the degree of extra work involved. Students must take courses in at least two of the three categories listed above.
Enrichment Experiences (4 -6 pts)
Honors students are required to participate in extracurricular activities that enrich classroom learning. These activities are varied in scope and will center on the students’ interests. Students are required to earn at least one enrichment experience point per year to total a minimum of four points before graduation.
Honors Project (4 pts)
Honors students are required to complete an Honors Project during their senior year. Activities that qualify for an Honors Project include an original Honors Thesis, a semester of study abroad, or elaboration of a capstone project to include Honors Program requirements. Honors Projects will culminate in a written paper as well as a presentation at the Honors Symposium held at the end of the spring semester.
Academic Performance
To participate in the Honors Program, a student must maintain a 3.500 cumulative grade point average at the end of each academic year. A student whose GPA falls below 3.500 will be placed on probation in the Honors Program and will have one semester to raise his/her GPA. A student may only be placed on probation once. If the GPA would fall below 3.500 a second time, the student would be removed from the Honors Program.