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Honors Program Application Process

The Honors Program offers several entry points for students with a desire to broaden or deepen their academic studies.

Program Entry Point Options:

Honors First Year Experience

First Year Experience Honors is designed for both incoming students and continuing students who want an introduction to Honors education. The program curriculum is interdisciplinary and supports students to produce honors quality Students completing the Honors First Year Experience receive the designation 鈥淔irst Year Honors" on their UNC transcript.

University Honors Program

University Honors is designed for students who want to take full advantage of the intellectual breadth and depth of the Honors Program, providing access to upper-division electives and in-depth research experiences culminating in the creation of a Senior Honors Capstone project. Students who completed First Year Honors simply continue their journey, but all current UNC students and incoming transfer students may apply for entry to the program as late as their junior year. Students completing the University Honors Program receive recognition at commencement and official designation as 鈥淯niversity Honors鈥� on both their transcript and diploma.

Honors Capstone Experience

The Honors Capstone program is designed for juniors and seniors who discover Honors too late to take advantage of the full program or who want to explore their major discipline in-depth through the creation of an Honors Capstone project. This project may be in the form of a traditional research thesis, a creative work, or an applied project. Students completing the Honors Capstone-Only program receive an 鈥淗onors Capstone" designation on their transcript.

To apply for any path through the Program:

Incoming Students from High School

Apply to UNC first. Then, if you are accepted to UNC and are determined to be automatically eligible for honors, you will receive an invitation through your admitted students portal to apply to the Honors Program, which is a separate application. If you do not find that Apply to Honors option in your portal please email us at honors@unco.edu, and we can help you! Any incoming student may apply to Honors, with no minimum High School or transfer GPA nor any minimum test score. Simply request the Honors Program application if you do not automatically see the application in your new student portal.

• Early Action Deadline for Fall semster is December 10.
• Fall Priority deadline is March 10.
• Last Chance deadline is August 1.
• Spring Admission for incoming students from high school deadline is November 1.

Transfer Students

Apply to UNC first. Then, if you are accepted to UNC, you will receive an invitation through your admitted students portal to apply to the Honors Program, which is a separate application. Contact us at honors@unco.edu with any questions about your Honors Program application.

• Preferred deadline is April 1 for Fall Admit Applications and November 1 for Spring Admit Applications.
• Rolling deadline through the summer until August 1. 
• But apply sooner for more time to discover how the Honors Program can fit with your degree needs!

Current UNC Students

Apply directly to Honors Program, for any Program entry point, using the application link below.

• Preferred deadline is April 1 for Fall semester start and November 1 for Spring semester start.
• Rolling deadline through the summer until August 1. 
• But apply sooner for more time to discover how the Honors Program can fit with your degree needs!

Honors Program Application questions

2025-2026 Application questions for incoming transfer or incoming first year students

Please answer the following two questions. You are encouraged to draft your responses in a separate document and then copy and paste your response into the application. You must use your own words and may not use A.I. generated text as your response. We want to hear your voice and read your story. The responses are not evaluated on grammar. You may use a spell checker.  

Question 1) UNC鈥檚 Honors Program fosters a diverse and inclusive community of intellectually curious student scholars.  We seek students who want to engage deeply in their learning, not simply for the sake of achieving good grades, but for the intrinsic reward of discovering more about the world around them.  The Honors Program accepts students who tend to ask complex questions and challenge themselves to seek solutions where none seem to exist. The Honors Program values creativity and originality as well as hard work, motivation and critical thinking.

Please tell us about one area of interest that you are passionate about and would like to explore or engage with further.   Your chosen area of interest can be from any domain: academic, artistic, cultural, scientific, athletic or any other area. Please showcase your curiosity and your engagement with the world through your response. (Responses should be 200-400 words).

Question 2) By joining the University Honors Program, you will become a member of our community of scholars, who all have different backgrounds, experiences, and stories. Please tell us what aspects from your background, experience, and story will enrich our University Honors Program community. (Responses should be 100-300 words).

2025-2026 Application questions for current UNC Students

Question 1) Discuss one issue, problem, concern or research question that you would be interested exploring in more depth? Or discuss one creative project that you would like to endeavor to create. Why have you chosen this issue or creative project? In what ways would you be interested in exploring the issue/would you pursue this project? Do not use AI generated text as your response, we want to hear YOUR voice. (500 words or less).

Question 2) What are your future educational, graduate school and/or professional goals?  How does the Honors Program fit into your plans? (200 words or less).