Program Details

What is Honors?

The IPFW Honors Program is often confused with honors societies, departmental honors, or even the honor roll. While many of our students are involved in those programs and activities, we are actually an undergraduate certificate program with our own awards that students earn in addition to their degrees.

More importantly, however, the Honors Program is a way to get the most of your college education. The program's goal is to create learning opportunities and an environment of intellectual excitement and discovery through enriched courses of study and activities within a learning community. In other words, we create classes and events where motivated students can get together to challenge themselves and each other to learn relevant, exciting, and fun things. Our classes are limited to only twenty students in order to maximize the interaction between students and instructors. In addition, our courses tend to be multidisciplinary and more interactive than non-honors courses, so they can can supplement studies in any academic major.

Because learning extends beyond the classroom doors, you'll find the Honors Program offers more than just classes. Our student organization puts on a wide range of leadership opportunities, social events, and engaging activities. In addition, the Honors Program offers ways to get involved on the IPFW campus and in the Fort Wayne community through networking opportunities and placement on committies.

The Honors Program is about helping you make the most of your learning opportunities.

Can I Join?

To participate in the honors program in your first year, you only need to meet one of the following: 

• top 10% of your high school class
• 650 SAT score in writing, critical thinking or mathematics
• 1800 combined SAT score
• 27 ACT score

If you are a current student at IPFW, you can participate by having one of the following:

• 3.3 cumulative GPA after 12 GPA related credit hours at IPFW
• 3.5 transfer GPA (if fewer than 12 credit hours at IPFW)

Benefits

Completion of the program offers a certificate and medal, but other benefits become available much earlier. For example, all honors courses are limited to 20 students and are taught by honors faculty; there is no risk of being taught by a inexperienced graduate student or being lost in a crowded classroom. Students who complete an honors course can then register with the Juniors regardless of their class standing, which makes it much easier to get into the classes that you need.

Every honors course you take shows up on your transcript, which can give you a competitive edge when you job hunt or apply for graduate school. Before you get there, however, you can alleviate your college expenses with scholarships offered through the program or through various employment opportunities. There are also awards for completing the requirements of the program.

The Honors Center is a room on campus with lab computers and tables that is an excellent place to work, study, or hang out and meet new people. In addition, you automatically become a member of the Honors Student Group and can attend its various events. In the unlikely event that nothing on their calendar interests you, tell them what you would like to do-odds are good that it will be incorporated somehow.

Requirements

Since most people can apply honors credits towards their major or minor, completing these requirements often requires no extra time at IPFW. To help schedule your time here, you can contact a peer advisor.

Awards

There are two separate awards from the Honors Program, the Honors Pin, and the Honors Certificate and Medal.

Honors Pin

The Honors Pin is awarded to those that have completed nine hours of coursework and have maintained a 3.3 GPA overall. The pin reflects upon the hard work that is invested into your work in the Honors Program and also signals that you are halfway through the program requirements.

Honors Certificate and Medal

This pair of awards shows that you have completed the program and shows significance in the level of education that you completed from this interdisciplinary program. The requirements are as follows:

• Completion of the Honors Program registration form
• 18 credit hours of honors coursework
• Honors coursework that represents at least two different disciplines
• Of the 18 credit hours, three credits must be at the 300-level or above
• 3.5 GPA overall
• The honors project

The medal is the only medal allowed at commencement, which reinforces how much work is required to complete the program.

Honors Students

Many individuals already have a preconceived notion of honors students, which may or may not be realistic. Based on this notion, they often wonder if they would "fit in" with other honors students. In reality; however, most people are surprised at the variety of people, personalities, and apptitudes that can be found in the Honors Program.

Some of our students have excelled throughout high school and into college, but others didn't take high school very seriously or didn't perform well on standardized tests.  Our requirements are designed to take into account these differences and allow motivated students to make the most of their education at IPFW, regardless of how they got here.