There is good news for students who want to graduate with honors but are not members of the University Honors Program. Students can participate in their major department’s individual honors program.

Sometimes, the individual program of the department will qualify a student for the university program as well, so it would be possible for a student to receive both departmental and university honors, said University Honors Program Director Michael Martin.

Martin said that, contrary to myth, students do not have to be freshmen or sophomores to begin the University Honors Program. Many transfer students, including juniors, have gone through the University Honors Program and still graduated on time, he said.

In order to graduate with university honors, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, at least 27 credit hours of honors coursework (12 of which must be outside the major), completion of a seminar and a capstone project.

It is not necessarily easier to graduate with departmental honors than to earn university honors, said William Blair, department chair of mathematical sciences. However, he said that it is easier to start out in the honors program as a freshman and later receive departmental honors than it is to begin a departmental program and then try to also fulfill the requirements for university honors later on as a junior.

This is because the University Honors Program requires honors coursework in general education classes, which are usually completed by the time a student reaches his or her junior year. However, Blair said that it is very common for students to graduate with both university and departmental honors.

The required cumulative GPA in departmental classes is higher for departmental honors than the required 3.2 for university honors. Students who wish to receive departmental honors in mathematical sciences, for example, must have a 3.5 or higher overall GPA in their math classes. The same is true for the departments of history, geography and foreign languages. Other departments, such as geology, require a 3.4.

Nicole Fulton, a junior corporate communication major and peer adviser for the University Honors Program, began the program at the beginning of her sophomore year.

Fulton said students can begin at any point in their college year because there are two divisions – upper and lower – to choose from, depending on where the student is at in his or her academic career. For students who wish to complete both divisions of the honors program, however, Fulton recommended beginning as soon as possible.