Quinnipiac University
Two students look down from the High Line in New York City at the street below and a colorful mural.

Undergraduate Academics

Honors Program

The Honors Program gives you intellectually challenging coursework and purposefully designed experiences that enhance your day-to-day college life while building a foundation for both personal and professional success.

Exceed even your high expectations

If you are looking to stimulate your intellectual curiosity and satisfy your desire for academic leadership, the Quinnipiac Honors Program offers something unique.

Students in our well-established program take advantage of the many cultural and learning opportunities across our campuses and in the Northeast. We organize trips to performances and parks in New York City, the Connecticut Forum in Hartford, and galleries, collections and plays in Hamden, New Haven and the surrounding communities.

As a member of the Honors Program, you’ll be able to more deeply explore ideas, take advantage of opportunities for campus leadership, make time to think creatively, and engage fully with the university environment.

Honors Program Experience

In our curriculum, we challenge students to think about the process of knowing, and in particular to explore “not knowing,” by investigating our assumptions, our knowledge and what is presented in any class. Our Signature courses help us practice curiosity and critical thinking by exploring identity from a wide variety of angles that are both familiar and unfamiliar. This coursework is supplemented by Signature experiences that bring students to less conventional, but very engaging, sites for immersive learning.

Signature Courses

Signature courses are required; they challenge students to think about knowing, and to investigate what we don't know.

  • WP 101H: Honors First-Year Seminar: Knowing and Not Knowing, Awareness and Inquiry
  • WP 400H: Honors Capstone Experience
  • Special Honors-only interdisciplinary seminars
  • Honors Core Electives in history, music, economics, biology, psychology, philosophy and more.

Signature Experiences

Signature experiences complement on-campus coursework with interdisciplinary experiences that include travel to Manhattan, Hartford, Hamden and New Haven to explore:

  • The National Museum of Mathematics
  • The High Line
  • Jazz dance
  • Gay and lesbian NYC
  • The CT Forum
  • Leadership and social justice
  • Long Wharf Theatre

Service

The University Honors Program embeds the value of service in each of its community commitments. We “give back” through service — but we also think about service from a wide variety of academic angles, courses and experiences. On- and off-campus, honors students participate in a variety of initiatives that focus on service in the local community and beyond, such as:

  • Tutoring local students at Hamden middle and elementary schools
  • Relay For Life
  • The Big Event
  • Project Angel Tree: Providing gifts to children
  • New Haven Reads Book Drive
  • QTHON

Be Here!

The Honors Program supplements Signature education expectations with “Be Here!,” a series of events we sponsor that is also open to the wider Quinnipiac community. Examples of some of these events include:

  • 60-Second Lectures
  • Got Privilege?
  • Ice Cream Social(ly) Responsible
  • Senior Honors Capstone Conference

Greater New Haven

Small groups of honors students travel with faculty and senior students to explore the culture, arts and environment of Hamden, Hartford and New Haven, all in pursuit of rich and vibrant educational experiences, such as:

  • Shakespeare in the Park
  • Yale University Art Gallery
  • New Haven Symphony Orchestra
  • Crypt tour
  • Apple picking
  • Escape New Haven (team-based puzzle challenge experience)

Honors Intercultural

Global and intercultural education promotes life fulfillment and success during and after college. The Honors Program encourages students to study abroad for college credit or through not-for-credit trips that foster an open frame of mind through new experiences, challenging ideas, and intercultural dialogue. Honors students have traveled to Quebec, and the Honors Program is developing trips to Ireland, Poland and Hungary.

Honors Leadership Board

The Honors Leadership Board is comprised of highly motivated and active members of the honors community who are elected by their peers to help plan events like 60-Second Lectures, Honors Orientation, Greater New Haven events among many others. Board members also have other commitments such as tabling at Open Houses, writing blog posts and helping to plan what honors courses should be offered.

National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC)

The Honors Program participates regularly in NCHC (National Collegiate Honors Council) conferences and institutes, developing a cohort of colleagues across the country on whose expertise and collective wisdom is essential in continuing to strengthen our own program. Through encouraging and supporting participation by our students — out of a belief that the wider Honors community is an invaluable resource to which we also contribute — the NCHC has been instrumental in providing both resources that have been made available to the QU Honors Program and the wonderful new colleagues in other nationally recognized honors programs that we now consider friends, mentors, and mentees. At the NCHC conference, students are given professional development opportunities and an occasion to share and present their ideas about how to be innovative while retaining core academic values. 

Quinnipiac’s Honors student Justin Ellis.

Experience a day in the life of an honors student

Justin Ellis '21, MAT '22, will take you through his day and show you all the benefits of being part of an intellectual curious community.

Admission Process

Admission Requirements

The application process is open to all admitted and intellectually curious students.

The Honors Program seeks students who want to engage their intellectual curiosity and academic leadership. We look at a wide variety of factors when considering how a student might contribute to our community, including:

  • High school GPA

  • Involvement

  • Unique perspectives and/or life experience shared in the application essay

  • Standardized tests

We aim to create a community of students and faculty who help us think and learn. Students must be willing to pursue their own interests, be intellectually adventurous or be curious about the world.

 

How to Apply

Prospective Honors Program participants must first be admitted to Quinnipiac as a full-time, undergraduate student.

If you have not yet applied to Quinnipiac

Before students can apply to the Honors Program, they must apply as a full-time student and receive notification of an acceptance.

Apply to the university

If you have been accepted to Quinnipiac and to the Honors Program

We admit some students straight into the Honors Program. Your acceptance letter will indicate whether you have been selected for the program. If you were, please complete the “Honors Reply Form” on your Applicant Portal by June 1 to indicate your interest in joining the program.

Log Into the Applicant Portal

If you have been admitted to Quinnipiac and would like to apply to the Honors Program

If you have received your acceptance to Quinnipiac and are interested in the Honors Program, we invite you to apply according to the following:

Application Timeline

The Honors Program application is now open.

Apply to the Honors Program

  • January 15 - Application deadline for Early Decision students

    • February 1 - Early Decision applicants will be notified

  • February 1 - First application deadline

    • March 1 - Applicants will be notified

  • March 1 - Second application deadline

    • April 1 - Applicants will be notified

  • April 15 - Last day to apply to the Honors Program

    • Applicants will be notified by May 1

After you apply to the Honors Program, you will recieve an email confirming whether you were accepted. Those admitted to the Honors Program must complete the confirmation form on their application portal by June 1. Log Into the Applicant Portal

Application Essay

The essay is the most crucial part of the application process. While the admissions committee notes excellent academic performance, the Honors Program also requires its students to express themselves in writing. With that in mind, make your responses to the essay questions specific.

The essay prompt is: Explain as clearly and concretely as possible, with examples where relevant, why you want to join the program, how it will serve your needs as a student and person, what qualities you bring to enhance the program and what you in turn expect to contribute to the program.

This is an opportunity for you to tell us about your intellectual curiosity and passions. Creative expression is always welcome.

We look forward to receiving your application. The program seeks a broad range of students from all undergraduate areas.

If you are a current, full-time student already enrolled at Quinnipiac

If you are a first-year student at Quinnipiac and you're interested in joining the Honors Program, after your first semester, please visit MyQ to learn more about the requirements and process.

Apply as a current student (MyQ login required)

Connect With Us

Contact Us

We welcome you to reach out with any questions you have about the Honors Program. Please contact the director of the program, Melissa Kaplan, by email at honorsprogram@qu.edu

Meet Us at an Admissions Event

Our current Honors Program students are eager to meet you and answer your questions at our admission events. Learn more about visiting

Once you are admitted to the university, we encourage you to attend an honors-specific information session during the admitted student events in the Spring. Learn more about admitted student events