About UW Honors

What Is the University Honors Program

UW Seattle students can choose either or both of the two academic pathways available to earn an Honors distinction on their UW diploma: Interdisciplinary Honors and Departmental Honors. Each pathway serves distinct academic interests and goals that are outlined below, and many students choose to complete requirements for both (an achievement that earns the College Honors distinction). Whichever pathway students choose, admission to Interdisciplinary or Departmental Honors confers membership in the University Honors Program, with eligibility to participate in Honors Program activities and events, apply for Honors scholarships, join Honors study abroad programs, and so much more. All ten UW Seattle undergraduate schools and colleges are represented among the Honors Program student community. Honors students bring their deep curiosity and passionate intellectual engagement to classrooms, labs, studios, playing fields, clubs, and residence and dining halls across campus, as well as the local, regional, and global communities to which they belong.

Honors at a Glance

Meet the Honors Staff

Interdisciplinary Honors

Interdisciplinary Honors students are asked to make connections between and across the different branches of knowledge. They take a majority of their UW general education requirements in small, seminar-style Honors-specific courses, and complete experiential learning requirements that promote project-based academic engagement and take learning outside the formal classroom. Through critical reflection and other metacognitive activities, students sharpen disciplinary understanding and become adept at thinking with and across different areas of knowledge. A capstone portfolio seminar guides students in synthesizing their learning and self-understanding as interdisciplinary thinkers. Students join the Interdisciplinary Honors pathway beginning early in their academic careers (either concurrent with first-year admission to the UW or through limited second-year and transfer admission opportunities).

Departmental Honors

Students who delve more deeply into their majors through upper-level electives, research, or an extended thesis conducted in close working relationships with faculty mentors can earn the distinction of Departmental Honors.

Departmental Honors is an excellent pathway for students who wish to get hands-on research experience in their major or complete other forms of coursework offered to broaden learning and academic engagement in the field beyond major requirements, usually as part of small cohorts of like-minded students. Requirements and application procedures differ across majors, and interested students should consult an academic adviser within their department for full details.

College Honors

Students who complete requirements for both the Interdisciplinary and Departmental Honors pathways earn the highest Honors Program distinction, College Honors, in recognition of their dual achievement in integrative learning across and at the boundaries of disciplinary knowledge domains together with deep, generative exploration within their major(s).

Honors distinction on the UW diploma

On fulfilling both their Honors Program pathway and degree requirements, the distinction of Interdisciplinary, Departmental, or College Honors is added to students’ University of Washington diploma at graduation. This distinction varies by Honors pathway and appears on the transcript and diploma as follows:

• Interdisciplinary Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with Interdisciplinary Honors”
• Departmental Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with Honors in [name of major]”
• College Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with College Honors in [name of major]”

Note that students in the Foster School of Business and the School of Nursing will see the Honors distinction appear as follows:

• Interdisciplinary Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with Interdisciplinary Honors”
• Departmental Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with Honors”
• College Honors: diploma says “[name of degree] with College Honors”

Commitment to Inclusive Academic Excellence

The University Honors Program fosters an environment grounded in an ethics of intersectional equity, diversity, and justice for advanced and socially-engaged intellectual growth, and as a foundation for life-long learning. We believe equity, diversity, and justice are core to our mission to foster inclusive academic excellence and personal development that prepares students to be thought leaders and change makers for the public good wherever they find themselves locally, regionally, or globally.