CONNECT:

HNR 151, 152, 153, 154. 12-credit team-taught first-year interdisciplinary sequence. Students choose one year-long four-course sequence from a list of options, including topics such as food systems, water issues, civil rights, ancient cultures, innovation, and many more. Team-taught by faculty from different disciplines, sequences aim to use multiple disciplinary lenses to explore the sequence topic from a range of perspectives. In addition, co-curricular and cohort-building experiences such as field trips, guest lectures, and shared meals are part of every sequence. For a look at the first-year sequences for Fall 2026-Winter 2027, click here. 

ENGAGE:

HNR 201. 3-credit Live/Learn/Lead colloquium. Aimed at equipping students for intelligent participation in public dialogues, this course draws on regular campus events (plays, concerts, lectures, art exhibitions, etc.) to give students practice in preparing for, experiencing, and processing cultural events in meaningful ways. Required reflections are both individual and collaborative, and both written and spoken.

HNR 300. 3 credits of campus/community engagement experiences. We say that Honors students “make the most of their university experience.” Current Honors students are well represented in study abroad programs, student leadership positions, and community engagement experiences. To fulfill this requirement, students engage in and reflect on approved campus or community leadership, service, or activity. Visit our HNR 300 website for more information.

DEEPEN:

The following courses require students to engage deeply in topics of interdisciplinary scope, and they also ensure that all Honors students experience such engagement from both the humanistic side of the academy and the scientific side of the academy. All students must take at least one project-based learning course and at least one integrative seminar.

HNR 250. 3-credit project-based learning course. Topics vary but generally have an artistic, humanistic, or socio-political focus—and always involve interdisciplinary learning and problem solving. Students work to delineate a problem or issue and its context, articulate any past efforts to address it, and produce a collaborative product or presentation that addresses the problem or issue. PBL courses outside of Honors may substitute here if approved for Honors designation.

HNR 251. 3-credit project-based learning course. Topics vary but generally have a mathematical or scientific focus—and always involve interdisciplinary learning, problem solving, and quantitative modes of inquiry. Students work to delineate a problem or issue and its context, articulate any past efforts to address it, and produce a collaborative product or presentation that addresses the problem or issue. PBL courses outside of Honors may substitute here if approved for Honors designation.

HNR 350. 3-credit integrative seminar. Variable-topic, small-enrollment seminars that draw intentionally from the diverse disciplinary knowledge of students and focus on important social and academic issues that cross disciplinary boundaries. HNR 350 generally has an artistic, humanistic, or socio-political focus.

HNR 351. 3-credit integrative seminar. Variable-topic, small-enrollment seminars that draw intentionally from the diverse disciplinary knowledge of students and focus on important social and academic issues that cross disciplinary boundaries. HNR 351 includes quantitative modes of inquiry and generally has a mathematical or scientific focus.

APPLY:

HNR 401. 1-credit Honors senior project proposal course. Students explore project possibilities, identify a faculty mentor, and develop an approved project proposal.

HNR 499. 2-credit Honors senior project. Substantial project sponsored by a faculty mentor. Includes a showcase requirement—through print publication, conference presentation, or Honors-arranged senior showcase presentation. This may be fulfilled through study abroad or by a capstone experience outside of Honors if approved by the Honors College.

What About AP and IB Credits?

All AP and IB credits that are accepted by GVSU count toward the 120-credit graduation requirement, effectively reducing the number of credits a student needs to earn a degree. Some credits count in the General Education program, some count toward various majors and minors, some count toward a foreign-language requirement, and some count as electives—but they all count.

In the Honors College, we value AP and IB courses as excellent preparation for our curriculum, but because our curriculum is topical, interdisciplinary, discussion-oriented, and project-based, with frequent co-curricular excursions and activities, we don’t believe that high school courses, even excellent ones, in Physics, Psychology, World History, and other subjects substitute for the cohort-building academic experiences we offer. So while AP and IB credits count toward the 120 credits required to graduate and may apply to other requirements, they do not reduce Honors credit requirements.

GVSU’s regular General Education program comprises 35-41 credits, or 11 to 13 courses, while our Honors curriculum requires 27 credits, or 9 courses. Honors students fulfill all university General Education requirements through those 27 credits. Reducing the credit requirements is our way of acknowledging the excellent preparation students have through AP, IB, and other Honors-oriented academic experiences.

Six of the required 27 credits in Honors may be covered by a study abroad experience (HNR 300 and HNR 401/499, in consultation with an advisor). Nine, potentially, may be covered by courses required in major or minor programs (HNR 300, HNR 250/251, and HNR 401/499). But even students who do not study abroad and do not take any departmental Honors courses will take just 27 out of their 120 (or more) credits overall to satisfy their general education requirements. This means that no more than 22.5% of a student's academic requirements will be in Honors. Our aim is to make that 22.5% as meaningful and impactful as possible.

What about transfer credits from other colleges and universities?

College students who apply to and are accepted into Honors may be placed in the Honors curriculum based on the number of credits they have earned through college General Education courses by the time they begin taking Honors courses at GVSU. College courses are those taken through dual-enrollment, early middle college programs, and two- and four-year institutions, including GVSU.

Our first-year interdisciplinary sequences are designed for first-year college students, so in general, if students have completed the equivalent of a full year of college General Education courses and satisfied the first-year writing requirement before enrolling in Honors, they may request a waiver of the first-year Honors courses.

All students, regardless of how many credits they transfer in, must complete at least 9 credits of "HNR" courses or "Honors-only" courses in other departments.