Honors FAQ's & Resources

Being in Honors is more than just being a good student academically. It means you are driven to challenge yourself and to think critically on issues that are prevalent in the world today. You are not only just academically driven, bit you are also actively seeking leadership roles and have a desire to use your strengths to better yourself and the community around you.

If you are curious and motivated, and want to be in classes with many other motivated students, and if you also want to grow your leadership and critical thinking skills, then EWU Honors is right for you.

As an Honors student, you will be able to take small classes that are much more discussion based and challenge your ability to think critically. We offer courses that are flexible, so you can still complete your degree while in Honors, and we have multiple co-curricular opportunities such as research, community engagement, study abroad and leadership.

If an Honors student received an Honors scholarship, they are required to maintain a GPA of 3.5 at the end of the year to continue receiving the scholarship. Please come see us if you are struggling in your coursework!

Yes, we work closely with our students to ensure that they are able to complete their degree. We offer flexible courses that work with your timeline in order to satisfy the Honors requirements without hindering your degree completion.

Credits earned prior to entry at EWU will not count as Honors coursework, but are likely to still be accepted for your degree.

EWU Honors classes are usually smaller seminar-style classes, with more focus on student discussion. Students in the class get to know each other and study and socialize together outside of class. Faculty who teach Honors courses tend to use more innovative and interdisciplinary approaches.

No, we do not charge our students to be in our program, nor does it raise the price of tuition.

This is not an Honors Society; it is a Program designed for students to take classes with like-minded individuals in a more seminar-based environment. An Honors Society is a paid membership; our program does not charge you money to participate in it.

The EWU Honors Program is like other academic programs on campus, such as majors and minors, but it has unique educational requirements and a structured academic structure. It requires you to take classes.

Students will demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, and civic engagement through an engaging curriculum that addresses social injustice and researches solutions to better our communities.

If you are interested in applying to the Honors Program, please contact us at honors@ewu.edu.

Honors Societies are membership-driven and typically require new members to pay a membership fee to belong.  They are represented by “chapters” on multiple college campuses, which chapter officers govern. Membership may offer networking opportunities between chapter members, as well as providing offers for discounts on scholastic materials or with local and national vendors.

EWU has different Honors Societies, such as:

Phi Kappa Phi:  https://www.phikappaphi.org/

Member invitations are sent to the top percentiles of GPA represented by the top 7.5 percent of juniors and 10 percent of seniors and graduate students.  “Phi Kappa Phi has chapters on over 325 campuses in the United States, its territories, and the Philippines.  Its mission is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

Phi Eta Sigma:  https://www.phietasigma.org/

The member invitations go out to first-year freshmen on the EWU campus with a minimum 3.5 GPA, and it does not require that the invitees be students in the academic program of Honors.  “For nearly a century, membership in Phi Eta Sigma has been a nationally recognized symbol of achieving an exceptional academic record in one’s first year of college.”