Honors in the Major

honors in the major

Earns you 12 experiential learning credits for University Honors.

Honors in the major is awarded to students who make their connection within a field of study by collaborating with faculty, often via research and/or creative work. This scholarly activity is regulated and overseen by the individual academic departments. University Honors does not award, confer, or validate honors in the major.

Each major identifies the requirements to graduate with honors and appoints an Honors Advisor from the Department to guide you through the process and verify satisfactory completion of the requirements upon graduation. You do not have to be a member of the University Honors Program in order to complete honors in your major and not all majors require a thesis/project. Contact your Academic Advisor with questions.

A note about GPA requirements: Because some majors/departments require their students to earn a GPA higher than the Honors Program's 3.33 requirement, occasionally a student will fulfill all of their major/departmental requirements to graduate with honors in their major but will not have the required GPA to do so. When this occurs, if a student has fulfilled all of the major/departmental requirements for graduating with honors in their major except for the major/departmental GPA requirement, the Honors Program will count their major/departmental honors work as fulfilling the University Honors experiential learning requirement for graduating with University Honors if such students have a 3.33 GPA or higher. Email honors-program@uiowa.edu or the Records, Enrollment, & Analytics Specialist, Mark Archibald, at mark-archibald@uiowa.edu for next steps if this applies to you.

Honors in the major will not appear on your University Honors degree audit. Your Academic Advisor reports you have completed honors in the major, and during the degree conferral process, University Honors will see that verification and credit you the experiential learning credits. If you have questions about your progress in University Honors email honors-program@uiowa.edu or the Records, Enrollment, & Analytics Specialist, Mark Archibald, at mark-archibald@uiowa.edu.

Honors in the Major by College

Honors in the major is based on the college and department you are earning your degree from. Information on honors in the major for each undergraduate degree granting college can be found at:

There is no distinct universal application for graduating with honors in the major. It is associated with your degree application. Information on the Degree Application process can be found here. Questions about your eligibility to graduate with honors in the major should be directed to your department or college.