Honors College

Those of us involved with the Honors College are delighted you want to learn more about us by visiting this website. We hope the information provided here will allow you to understand the scope and depth of SAU’s Honors College and our commitment to academic achievement.

Honors students must take at least 24 hours of honors classes, but many have taken more hours; the current record is 60 honors hours! The Honors College is open to all SAU Colleges and majors and its curriculum can be tailored to each individual student’s needs.

Honors courses are of two types: full and contract. Full honors courses are only open to honors students, are smaller, and are taught differently than contract courses. In contract honors courses, students contract with instructors to raise a non-honors course to honors level. The procedures to initiate the process for registering for a contract honors course are described elsewhere.

Covid-19 affected the Honors College. Budgets were cut and its traditional full honors courses were also cut. Recently, however, full honors courses have been restored to the curriculum thanks to funding from the provost. Thus far, courses in Ancient Egypt, Sustainability of Natural Resources, The Psychology of Serial Killers, Politics and Popular Music, 3-D Printing, and Guitar Making have been offered previously or are scheduled to be offered.

The Honors College student population is quite diverse. While most come from Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states, some come from around the world. Honors students have traveled from Canada, Bulgaria, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Vietnam, China, Venezuela, Cameroon, Malaysia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Korea, Tunisia, Togo, Bahamas, and India to participate in our program.

Travel is a large component of the honors experience. Since 2003 honors students have traveled internationally and to destinations in the United States. The SAU Foundation has been instrumental in providing funding as have many other donors. International destinations included: Havana, Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Moscow, South Africa, and Cameroon. USA destinations included: Little Rock, Greenville, SC, Detroit, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Savannah, GA, Shreveport, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge.

Much student travel is in service of research and scholarship. The Honors College funds student travel to honors and disciplinary meetings when students have work accepted to such scholarly meetings.

Honors students may live in any campus residence hall. Many choose to live in Honors Hall, a 76-bed residence hall. All SAU residence halls offer quiet areas for study, computer labs, and meeting rooms.

Students who qualify and participate in the honors program will also receive a $600 a year stipend in addition to their academic scholarships. All honors students may register earlier than non-honors students so they can always get a seat in a class.

Students who complete the course requirements of the Honors College will receive special recognition at graduation and will receive the distinction as “Southern Arkansas University Honors College Graduate” on their transcripts and diplomas in addition to any other academic honors they may have won.