University Honors Program

Elevate the exceptional.

Curiosity. Connection. Humility.

Cultivate and apply your passions as a member of the University Honors Program. Our students come from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of interests, skills, and talents. Our students make their mark on NC State and the communities beyond through leadership, research, exploration, and problem-solving.

We challenge academically motivated students just like you to investigate important contemporary questions and ideas by participating in advanced and innovative honors coursework and high impact opportunities. We invite our students to demonstrate their commitment to intellectual curiosity through Honors Forum, Honors Seminars, explorations trips and study abroad, and more!

It is the mission of the University Honors Program to help students elevate what is already guaranteed to be an exceptional education at NC State University.

The Director of the University Honors Program, Dr. Sean Cassidy, and several Honors Program students provide their experiences and perspectives about the UHP and many of its components. A description of the ideal Honors Program candidate/applicant is also shared.

The UHP has pushed me to seek out meaningful experiences that are out of my comfort zone and to be more aware of my impact as an individual. I cannot imagine my college career without it.
Caroline Busic
Class of 2022

Honors Forum

Honors Forum is your gateway to campus, Raleigh, and beyond. It features guest lectures, arts and culture performances, small group discussions, and field trips to museums, historic sites, and outdoor recreation spaces.

Students and faculty engaged in an HON seminar.

HON Seminars

HON Seminars are designed to motivate students to become knowledge-creators within their own discipline; to develop habits of mind that will serve them well as knowledge-creators; to understand what it means to create new knowledge in fields with which they may not be familiar.

High Impact Experiences

High-impact experiences are your chance to engage in learning outside the traditional classroom through leadership, research, service, travel, and more.

Exploration Trips

The University Honors explorations trips allow students to travel near and far with a focus on career development, arts and culture, or the great outdoors.

June 11, 2024

Three Spring 2024 Graduates Earn UHP’s Alex Miller Outstanding Student Award

Every May and December, during each of its graduating senior recognition ceremonies, the University Honors Program (UHP) recognizes one or more students from the graduating cohort that have exhibited a significant commitment to the University Honors Program (and former University Scholars Program) and its students.

June 06, 2024

Revisiting the Honors Program’s Inclusive Photography Workshop

Exposing students to a wide variety of opportunities, events and activities meant to challenge predetermined perspectives and widen worldviews is one of the things the University Honors Program (UHP) does best.

May 24, 2024