Program
Learning That Goes Beyond the Classroom
Community engagement is an important part of the Honors experience.
Honors students have opportunities to learn with and from organizations throughout Central Minnesota while exploring issues such as literacy, food security, housing, environmental sustainability, equity, and community development.
Courses such as HONS 106: Community Connections introduce students to asset-based community learning, while additional community-engaged coursework provides opportunities for sustained participation and reflection.
Through these experiences, students learn that engaged citizenship is built through meaningful relationships, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of the communities around them.
Honors and You
Who is an Honors Student?
- Engaged and active learners
- Leaders on campus and in the community
- Effective communicators and listeners
- Intellectually curious and interested in exploring innovative ideas
- Academically accomplished and professionally motivated
- Willing to take risks and encounter the unexpected
- Purpose-driven and committed to making a difference
- From a wide range of backgrounds with diverse experience
What You'll Gain Through Honors
- Signature Honors courses within and beyond your major
- Small, discussion-based classes and close faculty interaction
- Research and experiential learning opportunities
- Community-engaged learning
- Leadership and campus involvement
- Academic and personal mentoring
- Honors field trips and education abroad opportunities
- A supportive cohort experience
- Opportunities to connect Honors with your major and career goals
- Preparation for careers, graduate education, and community leadership
A Curriculum Ready for What Comes Next
The Honors College creates space for interdisciplinary learning and exploration of emerging ideas.
Students have opportunities to examine important issues that reach across academic fields, including artificial intelligence, ethics, technology, community leadership, and other topics shaping today's world.
Honors learning is built around integration rather than isolation. Students can connect Honors experiences with their majors through research, internships, volunteering, creative work, community engagement, and other individualized learning opportunities.
The goal is to strengthen what students are already doing and help them connect their education to what comes next.
Honors That Fits Your College Journey
Students beginning Honors in their first year can build their experience across multiple semesters through Honors coursework, community-engaged learning, interdisciplinary seminars, individualized learning opportunities, and work connected to their major.
The Honors experience is designed to grow with students throughout their college journey.
Students who join Honors after beginning college can complete the Honors Integrated Minor, which provides core Honors experiences in a structure designed to fit students entering at different points in their academic careers.
Every major. Multiple ways in. No extra cost.
Our Mission and Values
The mission of St. Cloud State University Honors College is to provide a dynamic interdisciplinary experience for highly motivated students who are academically ambitious and value intellectual curiosity, mutual respect, engaging with the community, and leadership opportunities. Our small classes and student-centered pedagogy promote discussion, cooperative learning, and independent exploration among committed learners of all identities, experiences, and learning styles.
Values
- Advancing undergraduate research
- Promoting place- and issue- based learning
- Fostering sustained community engagement
- Encouraging innovation in teaching and learning
- Inspiring meaningful relationships between faculty and students
- Supporting leadership and professional development
- Furthering global intellectual exploration