Established nearly 50 years ago, and redesigned recently, the College Honors Program encourages and supports high academic achievement and individual excellence.
With help from Honors academic counselors and staff, continuing UCLA undergraduate students design cohesive, uniquely tailored undergraduate experiences by bringing together engagements inside and outside the classroom—including research, internships, community engagement, and entrepreneurial pursuits—that advance academic, personal, and professional aspirations.
College Honors at UCLA invites you to explore beyond boundaries—whether within your major or across fields that spark new interests. With flexible requirements and a wide range of seminar topics, the program opens doors to unexpected ideas, creative inquiry, and connections that shape your academic path in ways you might not have imagined.
The Honors framework encourages you to connect coursework with real-world impact. With guidance from faculty and academic counselors, you’ll take on experiences that challenge you to ask deeper questions, pursue independent inquiry, and reflect critically on your learning. Your time in the program culminates in a student-designed capstone that captures your academic voice and vision.
College Honors is more than a recognition—it’s a commitment to personal and academic transformation. In a community of driven and curious peers, you’ll learn to lead, collaborate, and push boundaries. The program helps you cultivate the habits of thought and action that lead to lifelong growth, purposeful impact, and meaningful achievement.
The College Scholars Program is for students who enter UCLA directly from high school and join the program early in their first year at UCLA. It is a structured, cohort-based, four-year experience. Comparatively, the College Honors Program is a more independently pursued experience where students tailor their engagements relative to their time remaining at UCLA. Both programs are grounded in our core approaches to learning, ways of being, and habits of doing. Both programs culminate with a student-designed capstone experience. Students who complete either program earn the “College Honors” distinction on their diplomas and transcripts.
40 units - Honors Coursework
40 units of total UCLA honors coursework with a grade of “B” or better, including:
*Honors Collegium courses, which are developed and offered specifically for honors students through the Honors Programs unit, are a central and longstanding feature of our undergraduate program. Collegium seminars emphasize interdisciplinary learning and offer rigorous educational experiences that are designed to hone your abilities to think critically and creatively, engage you in applying knowledge, and enhance your communication skills. Most of these seminar-style courses enroll no more than 15-20 students, which allows you to get to know your peers and your professors.
Examples of Honors coursework include:
Master List Course
Honors Contracts
Honors Seminars
PLATO Society Discussion Groups
Undergraduate Student Initiated Education (USIE)
Fiat Lux Seminars
2 Experiential Engagements
Experiential engagements provide direct, immersive experiences related to your academic interests or professional goals. Engaging in these activities will help create memorable and meaningful interactions on a deeper level, by providing ‘hands-on’ experience. Please note that experiential engagements must be approved by your counselor. Examples include:
1 Capstone
A capstone course allows you to demonstrate expertise in your major or area of study. It may range from a year-long sequence of courses or tutorials, an honors thesis, a comprehensive seminar project, or internship. Examples include:
3.5 cumulative UCLA GPA
To earn College Honors, students must maintain a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA, calculated at the end of their final graded academic term at UCLA. This includes all coursework completed through the last quarter in which letter grades are received.
28 units - Honors Coursework
28 units of total UCLA honors coursework with a grade of “B” or better, including:
*Honors Collegium courses, which are developed and offered specifically for honors students through the Honors Programs unit, are a central and longstanding feature of our undergraduate program. Collegium seminars emphasize interdisciplinary learning and offer rigorous educational experiences that are designed to hone your abilities to think critically and creatively, engage you in applying knowledge, and enhance your communication skills. Most of these seminar-style courses enroll no more than 15-20 students, which allows you to get to know your peers and your professors.
Examples of Honors coursework include:
Master List Course
Honors Contracts
Honors Seminars
PLATO Society Discussion Groups
Undergraduate Student Initiated Education (USIE)
Fiat Lux Seminars
2 Experiential Engagements
Experiential engagements provide direct, immersive experiences related to your academic interests or professional goals. Engaging in these activities will help create memorable and meaningful interactions on a deeper level, by providing ‘hands-on’ experience. Please note that experiential engagements must be approved by your counselor. Examples include:
1 Capstone
A capstone course allows you to demonstrate expertise in your major or area of study. It may range from a year-long sequence of courses or tutorials, an honors thesis, a comprehensive seminar project, or internship. Examples include:
3.5 cumulative UCLA GPA
To earn College Honors, students must maintain a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA, calculated at the end of their final graded academic term at UCLA. This includes all coursework completed through the last quarter in which letter grades are received.
Beyond Honors Collegium courses, you have a wide range of options for selecting honors-designated coursework that satisfy College Honors Program requirements. Your academic counselor will help you think through the various options that may enhance your learning and assist with academic program planning at different stages of your undergraduate career.