George F. Whitworth Honors Program

The George F. Whitworth Honors Program seeks to deepen student engagement in learning through educational activities that add depth, complexity, synthesis and individual experiences. The program responds to research that identifies specific high-impact learning activities that transform the learning experience for students and prepares them most effectively for graduate school and professional success.

Whitworth's honors program also responds to research showing that university honors curricula benefit all students, not just those in the program. Our honors courses are open first to honors students and then, on a space-available basis, to all interested and committed students. Rather than being characterized by simply working through more material at a quicker pace, Whitworth honors courses are differentiated by their emphasis on the following high-impact learning experiences and outcomes:

• Depth and complexity
• Integrative education
• Active faculty-student and student-student collaboration
• Discipline-specific and interdisciplinary research
• Rich synthesis of ideas
• High accountability
• Innovative forms of assessment

In order to ensure smaller class sizes for honors courses, participation in the George F. Whitworth Honors Program may be limited. Students admitted with honors will be enrolled in the honors program in the order in which they submit their enrollment deposit to Whitworth; a small percentage of students may be put on a waiting list.