Requirements for the Honors Degree

General Honors Degree Requirements

Freshman admission into the Honors College is based upon the applicant's high school GPA and essay. All admitted freshmen from South Carolina with a high school GPA of 4.25 or above, and out-of-state students with a high school GPA of 3.5 or above, will be invited to apply for Honors College admission.

  • General Education Component:  Honors sections of "The Human Experience: Who Am I? (HMXP102H) and "Critical Reading, Thinking and Writing" (CRTW201H) for a total of 6 credit hours must be completed.
  • Cultural Component:  One Honors symposium must be completed (1 credit hour).
  • Course Work Component:  Completion of 12 credit hours of Honors coursework with a minimum of 6 hours in the major.
  • Independent Study Component: A senior project, such as a thesis or curated performance, must be completed in the major.  This requirement includes HONR 449H, a preparatory course (1 credit hour) to be taken the semester before the final project is completed and HONR 451H, the Honors Thesis Symposium (1 credit hour), which will be taken while the student is completing their final project.  Students will also receive 3 credit hours for completing their final project under the supervision of their project director. These three courses for the Independent Study Component total 5 hours.
  • Service Learning Component:  A service learning project and 4-5 page reflection essay must be completed (0-3 credit hours).

Requirements for the Honors Degree with International Experience

  • In addition to the regular Honors Degree requirements,  students must complete an extended experience in a learning environment outside the U.S.

Progress toward the Honors Degree

In order to earn an Honors degree, students must earn a grade of B or better for any honors course taken.  To stay in good standing in the Honors College, a student must maintain a 3.30 grade point average. In order to make progress toward their Honors degree, students should meet the following benchmarks:

  • Freshmen should have accumulated 7 Honors credit hours by the end of the freshman year
  • Sophomores should have accumulated 13 Honors credit hours by the end of the sophomore year
  • Juniors should have accumulated 19/20 Honors credit hours by the end of the junior year
  • Seniors must have accumulated 24 Honors credit hours by the end of the senior year

Students who enter Winthrop with significant college credit may need to work with the Dean of the Honors College to determine the best schedule for completing the Honors degree.

Failure to maintain the required GPA, or to make sufficient progress toward completing the program degree requirements, may result in probation from the Honors College. In such cases, students will work individually with the Dean of the Honors College to get back on track.