Academic Recognition

In all colleges, honors criteria are established for Wichita State students by the university and apply equally to all students, whether or not they are in the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College.

The Dean’s Honor Roll is determined each semester and is composed of students enrolled in 12 or more credit hours of graded work who achieve a grade point average of 3.500 or higher for the semester.

Students enrolled in 6–11 credit hours of graded work per semester who achieve a grade point average of 3.500 or higher for the semester will receive Academic Commendation.

See Academic Distinction for information about degrees conferred with academic distinction.

Academic honors are not awarded to students with a grade of I, IP or NGS on a course within the designated term. Earned honors will be added to the student record when a grade change is submitted by the instructor of record.

Departmental/University Honors

Some departments at WSU offer students the opportunity to receive departmental honors through their major. Departmental honors tracks are currently offered in the following: aerospace engineering, communication, communication sciences and disorders, linguistics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, modern and classical languages and literatures, organizational leadership and learning, political science, psychology, and public health science.

Each department or college specifies requirements for admission to the departmental honors track.

Departmental honors tracks consist of at least 12 credit hours of upper-division coursework or the equivalent effort, including satisfactory completion of a senior thesis, senior project, senior recital or capstone experience. Effort may be demonstrated by a student portfolio or another evaluation method determined by the department if courses are not required.

A minimum grade point average of 3.250 for coursework in the honors track is required for graduation with departmental honors.

Students who complete all requirements for departmental honors receive a diploma designation. For current information about departmental honors requirements, check individual department information in the Undergraduate Catalog or contact the department.

Credit earned toward departmental honors may be used toward requirements for the University Honors minor or Honors Baccalaureate awarded by the Cohen Honors College. Review the current university requirements for graduation for information about the required number of unduplicated credits. Departmental honors students are not required to be members of the Cohen Honors College.

Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College

High-achieving high school students and current WSU students may apply to join the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College and work toward an honors transcript or diploma distinction. Honors is a different way to do your degree, designed to be measurably broader, deeper or more complex than traditional college-level learning.

Several different Honors curriculum paths comprised of courses that meet general education or major requirements allow you to choose how you earn honors. This means a student in any major can earn an Honors College distinction by taking courses to complete one or more of the Honors curriculum paths.

Most honors students start with the Emory Lindquist Honors Scholar track and take one honors general education course, a research seminar and any 6 additional honors credit hours to earn an honors transcript distinction; continuing and transfer students may choose to pursue a 12-credit hour interdisciplinary track such as leadership or law; students earn the University Honors Minor diploma distinction by completing the requirements for Emory Lindquist Honors Scholars and requirements for an interdisciplinary or departmental honors track; several departments offer departmental honors (honors in the major); or a student may design a course of study and work closely with faculty mentors to earn the interdisciplinary Honors Baccalaureate degree.

Additional information about admission and curriculum is available in the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College section of the Undergraduate Catalog or online¹.

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