Academic Integrity is defined by University Faculty Senate Policy 49-20 as:

The pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity; respect other students’ dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.

Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation, or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.

A Schreyer Scholar who either is found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty by an academic college academic integrity committee or who did not contest accusations of academic dishonesty made by an academic college and waived in writing a review or hearing within the academic college may be subject to immediate dismissal from the Schreyer Honors College.

The Schreyer Honors College may revoke the honors medal and the honors diploma if a graduate is later found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty while enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College.

The University is a community that promotes learning; any behaviors that are inconsistent with that goal are unacceptable. Irresponsible behaviors, including alcohol or drug abuse and the use of violence against people or property, undermine the educational climate by threatening the physical and mental health of members of the community.

A Scholar is expected to maintain a high standard of behavior by adhering to Penn State's Student Code of Conduct and respecting the rights of others. Any member of the Schreyer Honors College who is found to have committed an act of behavioral misconduct that results in a transcript notation may be subject to immediate dismissal from the Schreyer Honors College.

The Schreyer Honors College requires a GPA of at least 3.40 for both cumulative and semester GPA to remain in good standing.

If a student falls below 3.40 in either their cumulative or semester GPA, they will be placed on warning during the following semester. When notified that they are on warning, they will be required to submit a warning plan in SRS that outlines how they plan to return to good standing. The warning status will only appear on Schreyer internal records. Students on warning will continue to receive honors scholarships, including the Academic Excellence Scholarship, but will not be eligible for grants and may not represent the College in mentoring or recruitment activities.

In order to return to good standing, a Scholar must be a full-time student (12 credits) and have a cumulative and semester GPA of at least 3.40 the following semester. After returning to good standing, the warning status is removed. If a scholar then drops again under 3.40 in their cumulative or semester GPA, the warning process starts again. If you are a Schreyer Student Worker and are placed on warning, please reach out to your supervisor to inquire whether there would be any employment ramifications connected to being on warning.

If your cumulative and semester GPA is not brought up to at least a 3.40 at the end of your semester on warning, you will be notified of a pending dismissal. You will have two weeks to appeal dismissal via SRS petition. After the two weeks, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs will review the appeal and inform you of their decision. If your appeal is granted, you will be given an extended warning which gives you an additional semester to meet the GPA requirements. If your appeal is denied, you will be dismissed from the Schreyer Honors College. This dismissal will result in the removal of the Academic Excellence Scholarship and any other honors scholarships being received, and the termination of all other benefits and privileges of the Schreyer Honors College. This dismissal is recorded only in the Schreyer internal records; it will not appear on your official transcript.

The Schreyer Plan is an annual form found in the Student Records System (SRS) in which you list the courses you are planning to take over the following academic year and answer questions in relation to the College's mission, vision, and values. After it is submitted, your Schreyer Plan is reviewed by your honors adviser, who either approves it or sends it back to you with comments for revisions and resubmission.

Your honors course and credit requirements are determined by your entry type (the year and semester you entered the Schreyer Honors College). You can verify your entry type in the Student Records System (SRS) in the Academics section below your ID photo.

Your progress towards the honors credit requirement can be viewed in your SRS Honors Audit.

First-Year Entering Scholars Starting at University Park and Other Campuses Where Rhetoric and Civic Life is Offered

• Enroll in and pass Rhetoric and Civic Life I and II (ENGL or CAS 137 in the fall, 138 in the spring) by the end of the first year. An extension to the end of the second year may be granted in exceptional circumstances. RCL II fulfills FYS requirement for Schreyer scholars in all majors.
• Complete at least 21 honors credits (including 6 from RCL I and II) by the end of the second year.
• Complete at least 14 honors credits between the start of third year and graduation.

First-Year Entering Scholars Starting at Campuses That Do Not Offer Rhetoric and Civic Life

• Enroll in and pass ENGL 30 by the end of the first year.
• Complete at least 18 honors credits (including 3 from ENGL 30) by the end of the second year.
• Complete at least 14 honors credits between the start of third year and graduation.

Second-Year-Entering Scholars (All Campuses)

• Complete at least 9 honors credits during your second year.
• Complete at least 14 honors credits between the start of third year and graduation.

Third-Year-Entering Scholars (All Campuses)

• Complete at least 14 honors credits between the start of third year and graduation.

Special Notes

1. Students who enter the Schreyer Honors College in the spring of second year via the Paterno Fellows Program may count honors credits taken in the previous (fall) semester toward their 9-credit second-year requirement. For all other students, honors credits taken prior to formal entrance to the Schreyer Honors College may not be counted toward honors requirements except for ENGL or CAS 137, which if taken in the previous summer will count toward all honors requirements.
2. The summer between second and third years may be counted toward either the lower division or the upper division credit requirement as needed.
3. For first-year-entering Scholars graduating in three years, the total honors credit requirement may be reduced to 26, defined as 12 credits in the first year and 14 in the last two years. For Scholars graduating in 3.5 years, the usual requirements apply. For students starting at campuses that do not offer Rhetoric and Civic Live (ENGL/CAS 137H/138T) in their first year, the requirement is 23, defined as 9 credits in the first year and 14 in the last two years.
4. For second-year-entering Scholars graduating in three years, the total honors credit requirement may be reduced to 14. For Scholars graduating in 3.5 years, the usual requirements apply.
5. Scholars who are on co-op in the spring semester of their second year, and who fail to meet honors credit requirements for the lower division as specified above, may petition via SRS to add that credit deficit to their upper-division requirements. The petition should be filed prior to the co-op semester.
6. All third-year-entering Scholars must meet the 14-credit honors requirement, regardless of graduation timetable. No additional honors credits are required of students taking more than 4 years.
7. Scholars pursuing their degree on a part-time basis must consult with the Academic Affairs Office about customized honors credit requirements.

Note About Semester Standing in the College

Semester standing based on credits is used in most Penn State offices, but the Schreyer Honors College looks at number of semesters of full-time enrollment. All entering students to Penn State, except for transfer students, are considered first-year students for our purposes; in their third semester they are considered second-year, in their fifth semester they are considered third-year, and in their seventh semester they are considered fourth-year. This method of counting is typically an advantage to Scholars, when it comes to scholarship eligibility and honors credit waivers for advanced-level courses (see below). If you have questions about your semester standing, please contact the Academic Affairs Office.

The honors course is central to the honors experience. The Schreyer Honors College Faculty Advisory Committee sets this standard for honors courses:

Honors courses engage students deeply, creatively, and ethically with the complexities of a scholarly subject. Honors courses challenge students to examine underlying frameworks, evaluate details of a subject, synthesize those details, and create, develop, or construct an advanced perspective. The content and assessment methods of honors courses provide enhanced opportunities for independent and innovative thinking.

Honors courses are typically capped at 20 to 25 students and are taught by faculty approved by the College. First-year and second-year students should expect to fulfill most or all of their honors requirements via honors courses, with limited exceptions by major and campus.

Any course that carries the Honors attribute in LionPath is an honors course, whether or not it carries the traditional suffix (T, H, U, or M).

While most honors courses are stand-alone honors versions of courses in the regular Penn State catalog (for instance, Honors Calculus I), others are uniquely honors offerings.

Identifying Honors Courses

The LionPath Schedule Builder includes a “Search by Course Attribute” feature that permits searches by course attribute (for instance, a General Education category) and a section attribute (Honors). The course search feature on the public LionPath site does not currently permit multiple criteria searches.

Grade Requirement

A grade of C or higher (or Satisfactory, for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading) is required for an honors course to meet honors credit requirements (as opposed to major or University requirements).

An Honors Option is an agreement between a Schreyer Scholar and the instructor of a non-honors course to make that course an honors-quality experience for the student. Adjunct professors and graduate students may not instruct honors options.

While the honors option should make for a more challenging experience for the student, it should not be based solely on additional work, but rather on enriched work, some of which may substitute for regular course requirements. Please see our Honors Courses & Options page for additional guidance.

The Honors Option proposal form in the Student Records System requires specific information regarding course expectations and timelines, including grade consequences for failure to complete honors option work. The Honors Option request deadline in SRS is the 3rd Friday of the semester.

If an honors option needs to be withdrawn, the Scholar must provide the course information by emailing SHCAcademics@psu.edu and copying the instructor on that email by the last day of classes.

Honors Option Request Process

1. Student speaks with instructor about honors optioning their course
2. Student submits the Honors Option request form in SRS
3. Instructor reviews and approves Honors Option form in SRS
4. Honors adviser reviews and approves Honors Option form in SRS
5. Schreyer Honors College reviews and approves Honors Option form in SRS
6. Schreyer Honors College processes Honors Option for the course
7. Student receives confirmation email from the Schreyer Honors College

The Schreyer Honors College allows up to 6 thesis credits to be applied towards the 14-credit upper-division honors credit requirement. These credits are typically taken in the final semesters of your time as a Schreyer Scholar. Departments vary in terms of how they ask students to register for thesis credits; you need to talk to your honors adviser first to learn about your department's protocol.

These credits typically carry the course number 494H with your Thesis Supervisor as the courses's instructor of record. If your department's 494 course does not have an "H" suffix, you must submit an Honors Option form for us to count it towards your honors credit requirement. In that form you will indicate that this course is for your thesis work. The Honors Option request form is due by the 3rd Friday of the semester in which the course is scheduled and must be filed online in the Student Records System (SRS).

Honors credits are given for a course that is created between a student and a faculty member to pursue the student's specialized interest (other than thesis work) under the supervision of that faculty member. Such courses typically carry the course numbers 294, 296, or 496 and are titled "independent research." Some departments may have an "H" suffix or an embedded honors course designation (discoverable in LionPath by searching "honors" as the course attribute) for these courses. If the department does not offer those designations, you must submit an Honors Option form to request honors credit for the course. The Honors Option request form is due by the 3rd Friday of the semester in which the course is scheduled and must be filled out online in the Student Records System (SRS).

The College recognizes the value of advanced coursework counting these courses toward the honors credits needed:

1. 400-level courses during the lower division (first-year and second-year)
2. 500-level courses and above during the upper division (third-year and fourth-year)

These courses will be counted on your Honors Audit but not noted as honors credits on the transcript.

The following conditions apply when counting honors credits:

1. As for other honors requirements, the College looks at chronological rather than credit-based semester standing.
2. For Scholars who take graded 400-level courses abroad offered through Penn State, a maximum of 6 credits may be applied toward the lower-division honors credit requirement. For non-Penn State programs whose grades appear as ungraded transfer credit on the Penn State transcript, only the credit waiver is offered (see below).
3. For students graduating in three years (see Special Notes above) only 400-level courses taken in the first year may receive the honors credits waiver.

International programs offered through the Schreyer Honors College carry honors credit, and Penn State programs taught by honors-appropriate faculty may offer the honors option. In recognition of the value of international experiences towards our mission of “building a global perspective,” the College grants a waiver of honors course requirements for other credit-bearing international programs according to the following schedule:

• One Semester (Fall or Spring)

  3 credits (4 credits if primarily in a language other than English)

• Full Academic Year

  6 credits (8 credits if primarily in a language other than English)

• Summer or Other Short-Term Trips

  1 credit for 10 days to 4 weeks abroad. 2 credits for more than 4 weeks abroad.

Credit waivers do not carry an honors notation and are only relevant if needed to fulfill honors credit requirements. To receive a waiver, use the Petitions tab of the Student Records System.

The Honors Thesis is the culmination of your experience as a Schreyer Scholar. For more information and guides to help you through the thesis process, visit our Honors Thesis web page. For the requirements below, you will find dates associated with each requirements on our Academic Deadlines web page.

Requirement 1: Thesis Proposal

The thesis proposal, submitted via the Student Records System, is a summary of the proposed project, including area of honors, purpose and objectives, sources and methods, how you intend to earn honors credit, and most importantly, who your thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser will be. The thesis proposal must be submitted approximately one year prior to intended graduation (as set manually by the student in the Student Records System); exact deadlines by semester are listed on the Academic Deadlines page of our website. Failure to submit the thesis proposal by the deadline is cause for dismissal. Even if you are away from campus, you should make plans to fulfill the thesis proposal requirement by the deadline.

All Scholars, including those in the Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate (IUG) Program completing a thesis at the master’s level, must complete the thesis proposal.

The thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser (and reader, when applicable) must approve the thesis proposal; if they do not, the student must make changes until it is approved.

Requirement 2: Thesis Check-In

Students must complete a Thesis Check-In on the Student Records System. This form provides information about thesis progress so far, any significant changes to the project, and the extent of contact between student and thesis supervisor. The check-in is reviewed by the thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser (and reader, if applicable), who indicate agreement or disagreement; while agreement is not required, the College will follow up in cases of disagreement. Exact dates for the check-in will be listed on the Academic Deadlines section of our website.

Requirement 3: Thesis Format Review

Prior to the final submission deadline, you must upload the title page and a representative sample of the body of the thesis for formatting review by the Schreyer Honors College. This important step guarantees a smooth final submission process, and failure to meet the format review deadline is cause for dismissal. Further information about the format review and expectations are laid out within the Formatting Guide.

Requirement 4: Thesis Submission & Approvals

By the thesis submission deadline listed on the Academic Deadlines section for your graduation semester, you must upload a final and complete version of your thesis, and must receive required approvals.

All of these requirements in turn require adherence to both Schreyer and local (department and academic college) requirements. For instance, in departments that require specific preparatory courses for thesis writers, you will not obtain thesis approvals unless you take those courses (or negotiate a waiver or substitution). For a more complete discussion of thesis requirements beyond the four procedural ones listed above, see the Thesis Project Guide.

If you are unable to meet your final thesis submission deadline, your options are to graduate without honors or defer graduation until the next semester (including summer). You should plan carefully with your thesis supervisor and thesis honors adviser when deciding.

Graduate Without Honors

1. E-mail SHCAcademics@psu.edu to receive the withdrawal request form.
2. Fill out the withdrawal request form in the Student Records System (SRS).

Defer Graduation

1. Contact your academic college to have your name removed from the current graduation list.
2. Update your intended semester of graduation on the Student Records System (SRS) dashboard.

If you are pursuing or considering an IUG, keep the following rules in mind regarding graduation as a Schreyer Scholar:

• New Requirement: Effective Spring 2025, Schreyer students in an IUG program must complete at least three credits of undergraduate honors work (000 through 400 level) in the upper division via honors courses, honors options, or waivers for study abroad. This replaces the previous requirement, which is stated below. Students graduating through Spring 2026 may choose the previous requirement if it is more favorable to them by contacting SHCAcademics@psu.edu. Note that IUG rules, as determined by the Graduate School, are unchanged.
• Previous Requirement:A maximum of 12 500-level credits may be applied towards the 14-credit upper-division (third-year/fourth-year) honors credit requirement. Only those 500-level classes appearing on the final undergraduate transcript, as a result of approved semester reports, may be applied. 700- and 800-level courses are treated as 500-level for the purposes of this rule. 600-level courses may not appear on the undergraduate transcript.
• In IUGs where the master's thesis is approved to satisfy the undergraduate honors thesis requirement, it must follow all of the steps in the previous section: thesis proposal, thesis check-in, format review, and final submission.
• For IUGs requiring a special petition based on Schreyer Scholar status (any undergraduate/combination not specifically approved by the University Faculty Senate), you must maintain your Schreyer Scholar status through graduation. The Graduate School reserves the right to remove any student from a petition-based IUG who withdraws or is dismissed from the Schreyer Honors College.