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.
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
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
-
Graduate with a 3.50 or higher cumulative (institutional) GPA
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
There are also three paths to gaining Honors College credit:
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
All Honors Students are required to complete two or one Honors Experience, dependent on curricula track.
The best way to earn an Honors Experience is by earning a digital badge. The Honors College at FGCU is the only honors college in the U.S. to issue its own digital badges.
Digital badges are powerful, new micro-credential in higher education. Digital badges are visual emblems with metadata that verify someone’s skills, abilities, and competencies achieved in a focused area through a variety of experiences. Badges allow you to efficiently demonstrate specific competencies you’ve earned to an external audience, such as an employer or graduate school. The Honors College offers four digital badges, one for each element of Honors. All Honors students who enroll in the "Elements of Honors" course in their first semester at FGCU begin the path to earning two digital badges from the Honors College.
To learn more about the Honors College's digital badges, you can review and download the Digital Badging handbook below:
Honors College students are not required to earn digital badges. You can also satisfy your Honors Experience requirement in the following ways:
| EXPERIENCE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Liberal Arts |
Complete 9 credits of Honors courses with the prefix IDH, ISS, ISC |
Honors Contracts |
Complete approved Honors Courses, 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 Certification Alternatives:
*Cannot already be required by major |
Service |
Complete 4 credits from the following Honors: IDS 3920, IDS 3300 and IDH 4638C Certification Alternatives:
|
Study Away/Study Abroad |
Complete one course with an Honors College Study Abroad Trip Certification Alternatives:
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