Honors Program

The Goshen College Honors Program

Goshen College is proud to offer the Honors Program as part of our commitment to academic excellence through nurturing bright minds, cultivating leadership skills and providing an unparalleled academic setting.

The Honors Program cultivates deep learning in a community cohort to connect intellect, service, and faith into an ethical whole. Students will take their educational experience deeper with exclusive research opportunities, specialty seminars and a capstone course tying it all together.

At the heart of the Honors Program is a vibrant community cohort that encourages high-achieving students to connect and collaborate. Goshen College’s signature cohort model and small class sizes allow students to build a network more closely with peers and faculty. The Honors Program will also offer a stronger focus on developing leadership skills. Upon graduation students will be prepared professionally, as well as intellectually, to enter the workforce or select graduate and professional programs.

Program Distinctives

The Honors Program cultivates deep learning in a community cohort to connect intellect, service and faith into an ethical whole. In collaboration with their high-achieving peers from a range of majors, this vibrant small community cohort model allows students to build a network more closely with peers and faculty.
Take your educational experience deeper with distinctive research and service opportunities, specialty seminars and a capstone course tying it all together.
The Honors Program offers a stronger focus on developing leadership skills, including the opportunity to take a leadership seminar with College President Rebecca Stoltzfus. Upon graduation you will be prepared professionally, as well as intellectually, to enter the workforce or select graduate and professional programs.

Eligibility

The program seeks to be welcoming to all students who seek greater challenges in their college coursework and opportunities for leadership and civic engagement.

High achieving high school students will be invited to participate during their college application process.

Current GC students and transfer students may join the program during the sophomore or junior year, if qualified. After an application, the Honors director in collaboration with an Honors Advisory Committee will determine which students are admitted to the program.

Requirements for Incoming First-Year Students:

Have graduated from high school
High school GPA of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale
Be admitted to Goshen College
Submission of an honors application, which includes an essay BY APRIL 1

Program Coursework

For the Honors Program, students are expected to complete at least one honors-designated course each academic year and at least two short-term courses resulting in at least 15 credits of honors course work for those admitted to the program as first-year students.

As an honors students, you participate in shared courses each year, so you get to know students across the many disciplines. These include:

Honors Research and Writing: for honors students only. It meets a requirement for all first-year students.
Honors Perspectives: for honors students only. It would be a course that meets a requirement for all second-year students.
Depth Credit is added to a course in the major to meet the honors requirement for junior students. The depth credit is to be initiated by the student who would present what they intend to do for their depth-credit project to the professor of the course. The faculty member is not responsible to plan a depth credit.
Honors Seminars: a short, one-credit course organized around a big question or interdisciplinary approach. Students take at least two of these seminars during their four years in the program. Examples of these seminars include:
1. Leadership Seminar with the GC President: Students will participate in this course during their second year in the program. Students will focus on leadership development using a guided book study.
2. Special Topic: Faculty-designed experience including travel, completion of a group service project or other interdisciplinary topic. It would be offered during fall or spring break.
Honors Capstone: Designated capstone for honors students, which includes common integrative reading in philosophy with discussion visits by the president and other outside guests to address the learning outcomes. Registration limited to juniors and seniors.

Note that the Honors Research and Writing course or the Honors Perspectives course would be waived for students joining the program in their sophomore year or junior year, after review of their transcript by the Honors Director and the Honors Advisory Board

Other Requirements of the Program:

Document leadership experience for at least two semesters on or off campus with the honors director. Examples of leadership could include serving as an officer of an on-campus club, leading an off-campus club or service group, or serving as a teaching assistant or peer mentor on campus.
Complete a research or scholarly project with faculty supervision either via Maple Scholars, Hickory Scholars, Honors synthesis project (disciplinary capstone), or Research Experiences for Undergraduates (National Science Foundation program). Honors students will present their research at the annual Academic Symposium on campus in their junior or senior year.
Successful academic completion (GPA of 3.6 or better) will be acknowledged on the official GC transcript and at graduation. If a student falls below a 3.6 GPA while in the program, they will be given one semester to raise the GPA back to 3.6 before they exit the program.