The Honors Academy provides university-level support and recognition for students pursuing Honors opportunities at Texas A&M. Students accepted to the Honors Academy are pursuing either the Honors Fellows distinction or the Honors Academy Minor.
We also provide Capstone opportunities open to all undergraduate students, coordinate with college- and departmental-Honors programs as well as other university-level units, such as the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of National Fellowships, that support undergraduate student challenge and enrichment.
What is an Honors Education?
Honors is a distinct approach to undergraduate education that:
- Incubates new curriculum and pedagogy through layering high-impact educational experience
- Provides an opportunity for close contact between faculty and students, and
- Offers curricular challenges that would not otherwise exist.
Honors Academy at Texas A&M University is an ideal opportunity for motivated, curious students who are filled with big ideas, who long for outlets for creative expression, and who seek out intellectual challenges. Our goal is to make available the resources of a major research institution whose track record of academic success demonstrates a readiness to take greater personal responsibility for their own education.
The defining characteristic of Honors study at Texas A&M University is engagement. While each academic discipline across the campus has its own pedagogical style, students in Honors classrooms are encouraged to speak, inquire, write, challenge, and do. In many cases, Honors students are introduced to research resources or interactive learning that are more typical of graduate than of undergraduate education.
Benefits of an Honors Education
- Innovative curriculum and expanded course options
- Increased prestige
- Engaged community
- Priority registration
- Specialized advising
- Interdisciplinary interaction
- Support for participation in campus conferences
- Special access to enriching experiences
- Close contact with accomplished faculty
- Collaborative learning with other motivated students
- Small, discussion-based seminars and/or one-on-one instruction
- Knowledge production through individual research experiences
- Engagement with internships, foreign study, and campus or community service