Admission into Honors

What is the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program?

The Honors Program is an enrichment program for undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences who would like to add something extra to their experience at CU Boulder.  Everything our program offers is optional, which means that each student can make the Arts and Sciences Honors Program work for their individual needs. 

If you have been admitted into one of the other colleges at CU Boulder, such as Engineering, Business, or CMCI, please reference the information in the "Other Honors options at CU Boulder" section on this page.

Honors-qualified students in the College of Arts and Sciences can choose to:

• Take Honors Program courses. Our courses are limited to 17 students and offer an engaging, seminar-style learning environment that prizes deep discussion, debate, and the exchange of ideas with fellow honors students and faculty.  
• Apply to live in the Honors dorm, known as the Honors Residential Academic Program.
• Attend Honors Community events, including movie nights, guest lectures, workshops, science talks, games and crafts events, trivia night, and more.
• Join the Honors Scholars.  Help foster community with fellow honors students and beyond by joining the Honors Scholars.  Take honors classes, participate in our events, do volunteer work, and access our peer mentoring program, all while building your resumé.
• Sign up for the Interdisciplinary Honors Studies Certificate. Develop skills in interdisciplinary theory and practice that you can draw on to address social problems.  Cultivate critical thinking skills, analyze problems from multiple perspectives, and engage effectively with people from all backgrounds and identities.
• Write an honors thesis in order to graduate with Latin honors.

How to be a part of the Honors Program

Incoming first-year students:

Admission for first-year and transfer students is done automatically through their application to CU Boulder's College of Arts and Sciences.  Generally, students in the top 10 percent of the incoming class receive an invitation.  This is based on numerous factors, including high school GPA, application essays, etc. Applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences are reviewed as the admissions process progresses and honors-eligible students will receive an invitation to the Honors Program with their notification of admission to CU.  Early admission applicants typically receive Honors invites in late January, and regular admission applicants typically receive Honors invites in mid-March, in line with the CU Boulder Admissions notifications.

If you do not receive an invitation with your notification of admission to CU and would like to be considered for the program, you are welcome to request a manual review by emailing honors@colorado.edu.  You will need to provide a couple sentences detailing why you are interested in Honors and how you feel it would benefit your academic career here at CU.  It is also an opportunity to share any information you would like the reviewing committee to consider that you did not include in your CU application.  We accept manual review requests even after you've started your first semester; there is no deadline by which you must reach out.

If you prefer to talk to someone in person or via Zoom about the program, you are always welcome to schedule a meeting by calling us at 303-492-6617 or emailing honors@colorado.edu.

Continuing students:

Continuing students in the College of Arts and Sciences (those who have been at CU past their first year) who maintain a GPA of 3.3 or higher are automatically eligible to participate in the Honors Program.  There is no Honors Program application; in all cases, eligibility is determined automatically.  If you have a major in A&S and a GPA of 3.3 or higher, your student record will automatically allow you to participate in honors and sign up for a class.

Where to find your invitation to the Honors Program

Once you've received an email of acceptance to CU Boulder from Admissions, you'll be invited to log into to your student portal.  Incoming freshmen and transfer students who are eligible to participate in the Honors Program will receive an invitation after being accepted to CU, and invitations are issued in conjunction with CU's acceptance letters.  To view your acceptance packet and see if you've received an invitation, please log into your portal and view your new messages.  If you've received an invitation, there is no need for further steps or applications - congratulations are in order!  We're thrilled to have you in the program.  Please remember that everything we offer is optional; we'd love for you to participate fully, but you can choose what works for you.  There is no extra cost to take our classes or participate in events; the only possible extra expense would be any RAP fee you might need to pay if you're assigned to the Honors dorm.

I got in!  What now?

You will automatically receive emails at your @colorado.edu email address notifying you of courses, events, and opportunities.  Please keep an eye out for those emails.  To make sure you don't miss anything, we recommend adding honors@colorado.edu to your email address book; this will keep our messages from possibly going to your spam folder.  If you'd like to know more details on what we offer, please read through the Courses, Community, Latin Honors, and other tabs on our website.  

You can choose to participate in any or all of our offerings; all opportunities are optional and not required (including our classes).  We encourage you to customize participation in our offerings to suit your interests and academic goals.  As your first semester as an Honors student approaches, you'll receive an invitation to join our Honors Student Center Canvas Community site.  Please accept that invitation; once the semester is in session, this will be the main way we communicate opportunities to you.

Is there an Honors dorm?

There is!  We would love to have you live in our Honors dorm, known as the Honors Residential Academic Program (Honors RAP) in Smith Hall!  Having said that, you are not required to live in the Honors RAP to maintain your honors eligibility - it is your choice whether you select it during your Housing application or not.  

Click here to learn about the Honors RAP

Click here to visit our extensive FAQ page