Missouri Western’s Honors program offers high-achieving students the opportunity to enhance their college experience through interesting guest speakers, conferences across the country, a semester of study abroad, scholarship opportunities, in-depth research and study of a variety of topics, museum visits and close friendships. The Honors program has been a part of the campus community since 1988.
To earn General Studies Honors, students must:
- 12 hours General Studies Honors Credits,
- 4 hours Honors Colloquia (HON 195 for 2 credits and HON 395 for 2 credits)
- 2 credits of UNV 201 (Community Service Learning)
- Minimum A or B in all courses (and CR for UNV 201) to count toward General Studies Honors
- Total 18 hours
The achievement of General Studies Honors appears on the student’s transcript. Students receive graduation medals during their graduating semester to wear at the commencement ceremony.
Each semester, departments across campus offer a variety of general studies honors courses designed for 10 to 20 students. One of the unique features of the Honors program is the colloquia, which are theme-based experiences involving panel discussions, presentations, guest speakers, outside readings, films, and field trips. Different colloquia are offered each semester, and recent colloquia topics include Learning and the Brain, Seven Glasses: The Chemistry and History of Beverages, Whodunit?: The History and Philosophy of Solving Mysteries, From Kaiju to Killer Bugs: Societal Fears of Science in American Cinema, and Conserving Biodiversity.
To earn Majors Honors, students must:
- 2 hours Honors Colloquia (HON 395 for 2 credits)
- 1 credit hour of UNV 201 (Community Service Learning)
- 6 hours Upper-Level majors course pre-approved by Honors Director with research component.
- Minimum A or B in all courses (and CR for UNV 201) to count toward Honors in the Major.
- Total 24 hours (with GSH) or 9 hours
Students must receive a grade of A or B in all Honors Courses in order for them to count toward Majors Honors.
Students wishing to pursue this option need to complete the “Majors Honors Approval Form” before the onset of the project, which is available in the Forms tab.
The Majors Honors designation will appear on the student’s transcript. Students receive graduation medals during their graduating semester to wear at the commencement ceremony.
The General Studies Honors Program follows a two-year cycle of courses which ensures that courses from the various categories in General Studies are available at least once in every four-year cycle. General Studies Honors courses carry a section number ending with -80 or -81 with the exception of ENG112, MAT165, MAT167, and PHY210. Honors classes with labs such as BIO105, CHE111 and PED101 may have only the lecture offered as -80 or -81. In that case, Honors Students can enter into a lab without this designation.
Colloquia. Different colloquia are offered each semester. In Fall, both first-semester freshman colloquia (HON195) and general colloquia (HON395) are offered. Professors from across campus apply to teach colloquia which are selected by the Honors Committee.
Fall 2026 Colloquia Offerings
- HON 195-01 (CRN 11453) Carissa Ganong and Julie Jedlicka: Intelligent life: what does “intelligence” mean for animals, plants, fungi, and Microbes?
- HON 195-02 (11460) Kristen Walton & Karen Koy: Bioethics and Star Trek: To Boldly Go (Within Reason)
- HON 195-03 (11461) Dan Shepherd: Brain-Based Living: An Exploration of Current Brain-Based Research for Reaching your Potential.
- HON 395-01 (11462) Aracely Newton: Makin’ Bacon: Reproduction across Organisms
Click Here to View Additional Honors Fall 2026 Courses [Spreadsheet]
