Iona Honors Program Requirements

Program Overview

Honors students are required to complete a designated set of liberal arts courses totaling 45-46 credits to fulfill the Honors Program curriculum. Although these courses are typically more challenging in terms of assignments and content, they carry the same credit weight as Iona’s standard Core Curriculum required for non-Honors students. As a result, an Honors student can choose any major without concern that the Honors Core will interfere with meeting the requirements of their chosen field.

To launch their academic journey, students begin with The Honors Cornerstone (HON 150). This foundational course highlights the value of the liberal arts in exploring personal growth, belonging, and the social, cultural, and political forces that shape our lives. Building on this introduction, a sequence of three Honors Humanities Inquiry seminars (HON 200, 250, and 300) enhances students’ understanding of the profound depth and breadth of human expression and experience while also equipping students with essential skills such as persuasive writing, critical thinking, diverse problem-solving, effective oral and visual communication, and advanced information literacy—including the use and understanding of Artificial Intelligence.

Throughout these courses, Honors students strike a dynamic balance between cutting-edge technological tools, like AI, and timeless methods of inquiry, including diligent engagement with enduring texts and intriguing materials, academic journal writing, and vibrant seminar discussions. This approach not only cultivates a robust intellectual foundation but also helps inspire students to become thoughtful and innovative leaders in an ever-evolving world.

Echoing the educational and charitable legacy of the Christian Brothers who founded Iona, in the junior-year Honors Experience course (HON 350), Honors students will select from a variety of service-learning opportunities as they learn to harness their academic and personal strengths to serve communities locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally.

For the culminating senior-year Honors requirement, students have an array of options of which they must select one: a 3 or 6 credit thesis/research project; a creative arts project; a colloquium course; a service-leadership project or course; or for majors in Nursing and Education, the completion of their discipline-specific capstone courses.

In addition to Honors-designated courses, students must also complete courses in the natural sciences, computer science, mathematics, the social sciences, and the area of Diversity, Cross-Cultural and Global Perspectives.

Please note, Honors students in accelerated-degree programs may work with the Honors Program office and the Center for Advising to complete the Honors Program requirements while remaining on their accelerated-program timeline.

Students who successfully complete all requirements of the Honors Program, including presenting their culminating senior-year project/coursework at Scholars Day, are awarded honors medals at the end of senior year. These students receive special recognition during the Spring Honors Convocation, and an Honors seal is affixed to their Iona diploma. Completion of the program is noted on official transcripts.

Honors Core (18 credits)

For those whose first courses at Iona were before Fall 2024, see course requirements located on this page.