Ferris State > University Honors Courses
The Honors Program at Ferris State University is your stepping stone to success. Established in 1997, Honors is a community of university students with fresh ideas and broad interests. Honors students demonstrate strong leadership abilities and great dedication to their studies and communities. More than 600 students from 80 majors grow to their full potential through specialized university honors courses, while participating in global, cultural, social and service-learning opportunities. Ferris State offers many university honors courses in several fields of study including many advanced honors classes.
If you would like a campus tour hosted by a university Honors student, or an opportunity to attend a university Honors class class with him or her, or a chance to meet the students in an Honors hall, please call us at 800-433-7747 or 231-591-2216.
As a member of the Honors community, you are required to maintain a university GPA of 3.25, commit to 15 hours of community service each semester, join a campus club and attend at least three cultural events per semester. Tickets to cultural events are provided to you free of charge.
The Honors Residential Life Scholarship is valued at $2,000 per year and is awarded to all Honors students living in Honors residence halls. It is renewable for up to four years and may be added to other university scholarships.
Honors scholarships are automatically awarded upon admission, if you meet the criteria, and they are all renewable for four years.
Ferris State University administers 31 of the national CLEP examinations to provide incoming students with the possibility of earning credit in academic areas commonly studied by university freshmen. Credit is awarded to those students who obtain a score of 50 or higher as published by the University Board. Credit granted on the basis of CLEP examinations is entered on a student's record without a grade and is not included in the computation of the Ferris grade point average or graduation honors. Students who take a CLEP exam and do not earn credit are eligible to re-take the exam after a six month waiting period. If a student has been previously enrolled in university honors courses, or equivalent, at an accredited university (including Ferris State) for which university credit was earned, the student may not take a CLEP exam for that course. Once CLEP credit for a given course has been awarded, a student may not subsequently enroll in that course and receive a grade. The College of Pharmacy does not accept CLEP credit in the sciences or math, but all other colleges at Ferris State will accept CLEP credit towards university classes. For more information about CLEP exams, click here to visit the Ferris State Institutional Research and Testing Office.
There are many honors societies on campus to which Honors students belong. Membership in these organizations looks impressive on a resume, increases networking opportunities and rewards academic accomplishment. The honoraries at Ferris are Golden Key, Kappa Delta Pi, Lambda Pi Eta, Lambda Sigma, Omicron Delta Kappa, Order of Omega, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Lambda Sigma and Sigma Lambda Chi. Through Ferris State University's Study Away program, Honors students have traveled to Paris, London, Rome, Florence, Isle of Capri, Jerusalem, Provence, Martinique and Juarez. Honors scholarships and financial aid packages can be readily constructed depending on funding. These experiences can be for a summer, a semester or an academic year.
For honors students with Advanced Placement (AP) and CLEP credits, the Business Administration degree can be earned in three years. For those who desire an M.B.A., it can be earned in one additional year. This challenge presents tremendous cost savings for the dedicated and ambitious student beginning with residence in Honors Halls. Single living space in Helen Ferris, Henderson, Puterbaugh or Carlisle Honors halls feature kitchenettes, laundry and recreational facilities. The Honors Residential Life Scholarship helps finance the additional cost of a private room in one of these honors halls. The rooms are wired for Internet access and voice mail. Honors students are required to live in one of the Honors halls during their freshman and sophomore years, except for non-traditional students.
Priority registration allows you to get many of the university honors classes and create a schedule tailored to meet your specific academic needs. As an Honors student, you also receive other academic opportunities, such as participating in a stimulating symposia, meeting with visiting scholars, taking advantage of mentoring options, contributing to the national award-winning Honors newsletter, The Endeavor, attending "Lunch and Learn" (monthly programs in an Honors hall featuring a sought-after guest as speaker), joining the Honors Council, or joining the Honors Programming Board.
The Peer Mentor Program teams up Honors freshmen with an Honors upperclassman who serves as an informal guide and sounding board for the duration of the freshman year. Faculty mentors work with students on research projects of mutual interest either for the intrinsic value of the experience and/or for credit in an independent study context, or the mentor serves as a guide during the student's academic career.
Honors seminars are integrated into the general curriculum of the university and usually fulfill General Education requirements. The norm for the cohort is 10-12 Honors credits.
The Honors Program and the College of Pharmacy Assurance. Honors student must:
In order to apply for admission to Honors as a potential freshman you will need a minimum cumulative High School GPA of 3.40 and a minimum 24 ACT composite or an 1120 SAT (combining math and reading scores). Upon receipt of your application for the Honors program you will be contacted about the essay portion of our admissions process and the Honors Invitational Competition.
If you have not completed an Undergraduate Student application to Ferris State University, you will need to do that in order for your Honors application to remain valid. The application can be found at www.ferris.edu/admissions.
For internal or external honors transfer applicants, students must have a cumulative university GPA of 3.25 in at least 18 credits (none of which are in remedial or developmental classes) but no more than 66 credits at the time of Honors acceptance. If you have any questions, please contact the Honors staff at231-591-2216.
Honors/Business Administration Program 3-Year Degree
Building on a core of business courses, this University Honors program features a sequence of major courses and honors courses, and also provides the opportunity to engage in applied learning through the careful selection of directed electives, internships, and study abroad experiences. Honors students may also design specialized areas of concentration in such fields as international business, finance, entrepreneurship, operations, human resource management, accounting, applied statistics, computer information systems, communications, marketing and computer science. The selection of University honors classes at Ferris State is almost endless. University honors students study under highly qualified faculty members who have combined their academic credentials with extensive work experience. We supplement classroom instruction with the chance to earn University credit while gaining work experience through our university honors internship program.
University students who demonstrate exceptional academic abilities will be able to complete an honors degree in business administration in only three years. The shortened time period combined with a study abroad component and two internships makes these university honors courses unique and exciting. The suggested sequence of university honors classes is available upon request.
Students wishing to continue one additional year can earn an MBA. This highly sought after, prestigious degree is offered fully on-line, and can be completed anywhere your new career may take you.
An honors degree in business administration provides many avenues for immediate employment and for advancement to upper levels of management. Employers seek honors graduates for employment positions ranging from business manager and sales representative to production supervisor and project planner. Honors graduates often obtain job positions in manufacturing, retailing, construction, financial institutions, government and a host of other fields. Honors students also find our university honors courses to be of great value in preparation for law school.
The purpose of the Honors Program at Ferris State University is to provide intellectual challenges, resources and support to highly able and motivated students, while encouraging service and leadership for the public good.
For more information on honors classes or to set up an appointment, please call the Ferris State Honors Program at: 231-591-2216
