Penn State Harrisburg offers two honors programs for students who are highly motivated to achieve academic excellence and want more out of their college education. The two programs are the Capital College Honors Program and the University’s Schreyer Honors College. Both programs provide students with special honors courses in a wide variety of disciplines, supervised research opportunities, and support for international travel and study abroad. The Honors Programs aim to build a learning community that provides unique learning experience for motivated students.
Hallmarks and Privileges
Hallmarks
- Greater engagement with educational content and innovative faculty through honors courses, which are deeper versions of regular courses.
- Honors options, wherein students “honorize” advanced courses one-on-one with faculty in a customized fashion.
- Introduction to faculty supervised undergraduate research culminating in an honors thesis.
- Honors seminars with faculty and guest speakers, plus distinctive honors trips.
In addition, honors students who maintain good standing also enjoy the following privileges:
- Advanced registration
- Opportunities for various honors scholarships
- Access to travel grants supporting international travel for education. (Honors student can use a one-time $500 travel grant plus they can apply for additional grants from the J. Alex Hartzler Program Fund in Honor of Dr. Jefferson Hartzler.)
- Access to research and conference travel funding
- Access to the Heindel Honors Lounge in the Library
- Access to the Honors Collaboratorium in the Student Enrichment Center
- Reserved space in on-campus housing for four years. (A request for a housing contract must be received by Housing and Food Services by their deadline and through their normal process.)
The most important reason for joining honors is to become a part of a community of student scholars who study subjects deeply thus setting themselves apart from other students with whom they must compete either in the market place or for graduate education.
Mission of the Honors Programs
The Honors Programs at Penn State Harrisburg are a learning community of students who have demonstrated a commitment to learning and distinguished themselves through high academic achievement in various academic programs. The Honors community, in partnership with faculty, staff and other stakeholders, seeks to:
- Explore sources of knowledge beyond the standard curriculum while maintaining the highest standards of excellence in all academic endeavors.
- Develop both interdisciplinary and global awareness, leading to the ability to understand and collaborate with individuals having different intellectual and cultural perspectives.
- Actively engage with diverse college and local communities in the discovery and application of knowledge to benefit these communities.
- Conduct all activities with the highest standards of personal integrity.
Vision Statement
Graduates of the Penn State Harrisburg Honors Programs will become:
- Dedicated life-long learners who have developed a love for acquiring new knowledge.
- Engaged citizens who take a leadership role in the affairs of their community.
- Creative problem-solvers who apply their knowledge to the betterment of society
- Individuals who adhere to the highest standards of ethics and conduct themselves with integrity in all aspects of their lives.
