Interdisciplinary Honors Certificate Requirements

What you'll need to complete the certificate:

Total credits: 18 (six 3-credit courses)
GPA: 3.3 or higher

The certificate is available to degree-seeking undergraduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences at CU Boulder.  

Required courses:

Elective courses:

  • Three 3-credit courses offered by the Honors Program (with section numbers 880-889 or 888R-889R)
  • These Honors elective courses in the certificate must be distributed across 2 of the 3 divisions (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences).
  • 1 elective course must be upper-division (3000 or 4000-level)

All courses that fulfill the requirement for the certificate must be completed with a grade of B or better. 

Some examples of Honors elective courses:  PSCI 2004-880: Survey of Western Political Thought (Social Sciences); HIST 4803-880: World War II: Europe in Crisis (Arts & Humanities); PSYC 1001-888R: General Psychology (Natural Sciences). 

Learn more about Honors courses and see our list of offerings here 

Please note:

If you'd like to graduate with Latin honors (like summa cum laude), you will need to write a thesis.  The Interdisciplinary Honors Studies Certificate focuses on developing critical thinking skills and the ability to successfully engage with a diverse audience on a wide variety of topics.  The certificate is a SEPARATE path from the thesis process within A&S Honors - you can choose to do both (or just one, or neither).  All offerings in the Honors Program are optional.  

How to make sure you're set for graduation:

  • As you approach graduation, you will want to make sure that you have all the necessary certificate requirements completed. The best way to stay on top of this is by .
  • During your final semester, email Dr. Hickcox to confirm your progress and certificate completion.
    • After confirming you are on track to complete the certificate, Dr. Hickcox will send you a Program Exit Survey to complete.
    • Once you have completed this survey and she has confirmed that you have met the requirements, your name will be submitted to the Registrar's Office.
    • The Registrar will award you the Certificate in Interdisciplinary Honors Studies. It will show up on your official transcript and a paper certificate will be mailed to you after graduation.
  • Please ensure that you have updated your home address in the CU system prior to graduation. 

Interdisciplinary Certificate Details

Interdisciplinary Honors Studies Certificate
Interdisciplinary Honors Certificate Enrollment Process