Honors Academy Minor

The Honors Academy Minor is the university-level transcript distinction available to continuing students who enrolled at Texas A&M in Fall 2025 and later.

The minor in Honors requires 18 hours of Honors course work including 5 hours of Aggie Core Values Seminars and 13 hours of Honors course work in the student’s major or major-aligned courses. Students will complete 2 hours of introductory seminars, 3 hours of 300-level seminars with at least 2 hours in the same topic, and a Culminating Experience. For more details, see Honors Minor.

To remain in good standing, Honors Academy minor students must:

Maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA,
Maintain a 3.25 GPA in honors coursework,
Make progress toward curriculum requirements by making progress toward minor requirements, and
Submit three reflections each year on professional development engagement.

To graduate with the minor in Honors, students must be in good standing with the university at the time of graduation distinction audit and through graduation, must not have an F* on the transcript and not have been found responsible for an Honor Code violation as an Upper Division student. Upper Division status is defined as having earned 60 or more credit hours (including transfer hours and advanced placement credits) on the date of the violation. This sanction is automatic upon a finding of responsibility and is imposed without regard to the severity of other sanctions imposed by the Aggie Honor System Office. (see Student Rule 16).

Texas A&M Student Rule 14.16.4 notes that students are only allowed two minors. However, if a student is pursuing the Honors Academy minor, they may pursue two other minors. Students should carefully consider this option and visit with an Honors Advisor if they are interested in pursuing the exception since it may have implications for financial aid.

Distinction Requirements

Honors Minor

Students will complete 2 hours of introductory seminars:

HONR 101, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Respect, Excellence, and Leadership

AND

HONR 102, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless-Service

HONR 103, 2 SCH: Honors Seminar in Aggie Core Values

Students will complete 3 hours of 300-level seminars, with at least 2 hours in the same topic:

HONR 301, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Respect

HONR 302, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Excellence
HONR 303, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Leadership
HONR 304, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Loyalty
HONR 305, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Integrity
HONR 306, 1 SCH: Honors Seminar in Selfless-Service

Students will complete 4 hours of Honors course work used to fill general education requirements (e.g. University Core Curriculum, ICD, and W courses).

Students will complete 9 hours of Honors course work in other 200-499 courses that meet their degree requirements. At least 3 hours have to be at the 300-level or above. At least 3 hours have to be at the 400-level or above.

Students should register for HONR 497 - Culminating Experience (0 SCH) in the first semester of their culminating experience.

Professional Development

The mission of the Honors Academy is to challenge high-achieving undergraduate students to develop the personal, professional, and intellectual skills they will need to address tomorrow's multifaceted problems. This mission is tied to the Texas A&M Statement of Purpose to “develop leaders of character dedicated to the greater good.” We want you to think about who you are, what your values are and where they come from, and how these values are guiding the decisions you are making about your course work, extra-curricular involvement, leadership aspiration, and service to your communities. Some of this work will be done in the Honors Aggie Core Values seminar classes, and some will be done outside of class as part of our program requirements.

Professional Development Reflection

An important aspect of your Honors experience at Texas A&M will be spending time in reflection on how well the investment of your time and effort is serving your goals. Three times a year you will be asked to intentionally reflect on something you have chosen to participate in while enrolled at Texas A&M and how it relates to some aspect of your personal, professional, and intellectual growth. These professional development reflections are designed to support you in this effort and help you draw connections between the different aspects of your college learning experience.

Each year, the focus of these reflections will be slightly different to help you deepen the sophistication of your self-reflection:

Year 1 – Values Discernment
Year 2 – Goal-Setting
Year 3 – Fulfillment
Year 4 – Personal Presentation

What activities are eligible?

The university community offers many events and opportunities to explore new ideas or dig deeply into a particular field of study. We challenge you to “stretch yourself” to attend something different from your normal schedule. You may get to see things from a new perspective or explore more thoroughly something you already enjoy. You might even be inspired to try something completely new!

You are expected to decide for yourself if an activity meets these criteria for yourself. The litmus test of whether or not an activity is eligible is if you are able to provide a thoughtful response to the reflection prompt you choose. Our office will not respond to requests to approve events for reflection. The guidance below is provided to help you think about how an event may fit your needs:

The activity should provide an opportunity for you to hear from or interact with a faculty member (or similar content-area expert, e.g. one of the programs presented by MSC Wiley, MSC SCONA, the Trotter Prize Lecture Series, or the Scowcroft Institute).
It should broaden your horizons, such as attending a seminar outside of your discipline that is related to an issue that you are interested in.
Or, it should deepen your understanding of something you’re already familiar with such as attending a presentation by a visiting scholar in your discipline.

How can I find upcoming Texas A&M events?

There is no one place where you can find all of the offerings at Texas A&M for personal, professional, and intellectual growth for students. However, these are great places to start your search and explore ways you can broaden your horizon, from your first year to graduation:

The Texas A&M Events Calendar Feeds feeds page gives you access to the individual event calendars for groups across campus: colleges, departments, offices, student support centers, etc. This is a great place to look for college or departmental lectures open to students about a variety of disciplines, some featuring Texas A&M faculty, staff, and students, others featuring world-renowned speakers.
Units around campus NOT affiliated with particular academic units can also have a rich variety of offerings to help you explore TAMU and your professional development goals. Examples include Office of Undergraduate Research, TAMU Libraries, Career Center, Academic Affairs, Education Abroad, Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, Office of Sustainability, University Arts, University Health Center, University Writing Center, and MSC Student Programs, to name a few.
Plenty of offerings like lectures, special events, department-specific activities are promoted solely on a unit's social media channels. Some units have their own social media directories (like Bush School and College of Engineering). Other channels you can find by checking a department or unit website. We encourage you to follow and subscribe for up-to-date event promotions.
Want to find a specific college, school, or department at Texas A&M? Here's the full list: Texas A&M Colleges and Schools.
If you're looking for events and activities run by student organizations, keep an eye on GetInvolved.
As an Honors student, you have access to the events put on and promoted by the Honors Student Council. You're automatically subscribed to the weekly newsletter and can follow them on social media on Instagram.
Each week, you'll also receive the weekly Honors Weekly Bulletin from Honors Academy featuring upcoming events. You can also follow Honors Academy on Instagram and X, where we regularly highlight events that are great opportunities for professional development.
No matter what event or activity you engage in, treat each one as a chance to practice your professional development skills: follow instructions regarding RSVP requirements, pay attention to dress code suggestions, and follow up to let event runners know when you have to cancel.

What happens if I don’t complete my reflection?

Since completing these reflections are a program requirement, students who do not meet expectations are subject to probation, which can include loss of access to priority registration, travel fund, and other special opportunities. Please see the assignment details in our Canvas Community for deadlines and expectations.

Culminating Experience

Options include:

Undergraduate Research Scholars thesis program
Undergraduate Performance Scholar Capstone program
Undergraduate Service Scholar Capstone program
Undergraduate Teacher Scholar Capstone program