Honors College Curricula
One College: Three Paths to Success
The Honors College does not believe in a "one-size-fits-all" approach to education.
Whether you are a First-Time-In-College student, a transfer student or a current FGCU
student, there is a place for you at the Honors College. Our three paths are designed
to accommodate differing credit hours at time of entrance into the Honors College.
Fall 2025 Curriculum Update
Selecting from among these three paths pertains only to students admitted to the Honors College in February 2025 or prior. All students admitted after February 2025 follow the Honors Scholars curricular path.
Honors Scholars
Primarily for First-Time-in-College (FTIC) students.
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Complete 24 credit hours of Honors coursework, with at least 9 credit hours of upper-division courses in the major approved by Honors advising
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Complete 2 Honors Experiences
- See below for Honors Experiences opportunities
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FTIC students complete an Honors First Year Sequence course in the fall and spring semester
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Graduate with a 3.50 or higher cumulative (institutional) GPA
Honors Foundations
Primarily for students enrolling in Honors after earning 30 credit hours.
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Complete 12 credit hours of Honors coursework (any class, any level)
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Complete 2 Honors Experiences
- See below for Honors Experiences opportunities
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FTIC students complete an Honors First Year Sequence course in the fall and spring semester
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Graduate with a 3.50 or higher cumulative (institutional) GPA
Honors in the Major
Primarily for students enrolling in Honors after earning 30 credit hours.
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Complete 9 credit hours of Honors coursework in upper-division courses in the major approved by Honors advising
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Complete 1 Honors Experience
- See below for Honors Experience opportunities
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Graduate with a 3.50 or higher cumulative (institutional) GPA
Earning Honors Credits
Honors Classes
Honors standalone courses are only offered to Honors College students. Honors courses can be offered as general education requirements, upper-division major requirements, or students can search and take unique Honors courses based on their interest. You can search on Gulfline for some examples Honors standalone courses by searching with the course attribute "HONS - Honors Section"
Honors Embedded Courses
An Honors curriculum is embedded into a standard FGCU course offering. Honors students within a course open to all students can gain Honors credit by working on a project, decided by the faculty, with their fellow Honors classmates. An Embedded Course allows faculty to expand their teaching approach while Honors students expand their leadership, teamwork and scholarly skills. This is only for upper-division courses.
Honors Contracts
Honors Contracts provide students the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors on independent projects in courses they are enrolled in to develop special skills and gain in depth knowledge related to the course. The student and faculty member for the course collaborate on a project proposal, and the student completes the additional project throughout the semester. This is only for upper-division courses.
Honors Experiences
Honors students can earn honors experiences to satisfy graduation requirements using one of the following ways.
Scholastic
- Complete 9 credits of Honors courses with the prefix IDH, ISS, or ISC
- Complete an independent or directed study course (not required by major/coursework)
- Work with a professor for more than 70 hours on an academic research project (not required by major/coursework)
Curricular
Complete approved Honors Embedded Courses, or Honors Contracts in 3 different upper-level (3000-4999) courses with a grade of "B" or higher. Only students completing "Honors Foundation" curriculum can have this considered as an Honors Experience.
Research
- Complete an Honors Thesis or Honors Independent Research
- Work with a professor on a project or paper (includes artistic performance/presentation) that was presented at a regional, state, national, or international conference (not required by major/coursework)
Service
- Complete 4 credits from the following Honors: IDS 3920, IDS 3300 and IDH 4638C. These are courses that have a service-learning component
- Complete 160+ hours of service learning
- The service learning hours (160+) include those required by the university toward graduation
Cultural
- Complete one course with an Honors College Study Abroad Trip
- Go on an FGCU-sponsored trip outside of FL for 7+ days
- Go on a study abroad experience sponsored by another institution for 14+ days, or on your own for 28+ days
- Complete a language-learning experience beyond the intermediate level
- Be an international exchange student or live in the U.S. for less than 2 years
