Honors Residential Learning Community

Honors Residential Learning Community

The Honors Residential Learning Community (HRCL) provides an opportunity for Honors freshmen to live together. Academic Village, Honors is a residence hall specifically for those in the HRLC, but Honors students are not required to live in this residence hall to be part of the learning community and/or the Honors Program. For more information about what it is like to live in the Honors Residential Learning Community, watch the videos below!

For more information related to housing, please visit the University Housing website or contact University Housing via email at housing@colostate.edu or via phone at 970-491-4719.

Academic VillageEdwards Hall
Research and Enrichment Opportunities

Research and Enrichment Opportunities

The Honors thesis allows students to work under the guidance of a faculty adviser. It presents the chance to personalize your education by pursuing a topic in an area of interest to you. You can use your thesis experience to enhance your application to graduate school, medical school and other post-baccalaureate programs, or to give you a competitive edge when applying for a job. An Honors thesis serves as the capstone of the Honors experience.

These awards provide monetary assistance for you to study abroad, complete service projects, conduct original research, travel to academic conferences and a variety of other worthy endeavors.

Honors ThesisEnrichment Awards

Enhanced Education

Challenging Classes

Engaging Community

Scholarship Opportunities

Early Registration

Honors Scholar Designation

Application Process

Early applicants have a much better chance of being admitted!

All incoming freshmen who wish to be admitted to the University Honors Program will need to complete a separate Honors application, which is linked to the CSU Application for Admissions. Students who meet the minimum GPA requirement of 3.8 will be invited to complete our additional Honors application. Applications will not be reviewed until a student has been officially admitted to Colorado State University AND a completed Honors application has been submitted.

Preference for admission to the University Honors Program is given to high school students who have:

  • Rigorous, extensive, and in-depth academic preparation in subjects such as Humanities, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and History. Most successful applicants have completed or are taking AP, IB, or dual college courses and have earned good grades in those courses.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Superb records of academic achievement as indicated by grade point average and class rank.
  • An application narrative and a recommendation that show promise for high academic achievement in university work.
  • Special accomplishments, life experiences, and talents (for example, service and leadership) that add diversity to the incoming class.
  • A desire to participate in, and contribute to, an honors community.

Application Overview
The Honors Program application consists of a brief online application form with short-answer essay responses to four prompts.  The Honors application review committee will also have access to all materials submitted as part of the on-line CSU Admissions application.  The Honors application review committee will consider several factors including GPA, class rank, rigor of high school coursework, extracurricular activities and responses to the honors application questions.

Honors Program Application Priority Date
The Honors application date is February 1. In some cases, we may ask for additional information (such as fall grades) before making a final decision. After the deadline has passed, qualified students may be placed on a waiting list if the program is at capacity.

Apply through CSU Admissions!

Honors Program Admissions Decisions 
Offers of admission to the Honors Program are conditional upon high school graduation and satisfactory completion of, and performance in, senior year course work. 

Incoming transfer students who have been admitted to CSU are invited to apply to the program if they have demonstrated records of high academic achievement at the college level. The minimum college cumulative GPA for consideration in the UHP is 3.50. Students in this category should contact the UHP office to obtain assistance with the application process.

These students must be admitted to the program jointly though the Honors Program and their departments. The recruitment and admissions process is coordinated through the University Honors Program, but the final admission decision is made by the student's academic department.

The criteria for admission into the UHP for currently enrolled students are similar to that for transfer students. To be eligible for admission to the Honors Program, a student will need at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA at CSU. Students who are encouraged to apply to Track 2 by faculty in their department should contact the UHP office to obtain assistance with the application process. The final admission decision into Track 2 for currently enrolled students is made by the Honors Program and the student's academic department.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes there is. Applicants to CSU who have a minimum 3.8 GPA receive an invitation to apply to the program by email, and a link to the Honors application will appear on their RAMweb application status page.

You’ll need your eID to access the Honors Application. Admissions emails students instructions to create their eID within two days after submitting their application for admission. Students must have their 9-digit CSU ID number in order to create their eID. If you need help recalling your CSU ID or creating your eID, contact Admissions at admissions@colostate.edu or 970-491-6909 (information can only be shared with students).

The Honors application is usually open by mid-October for incoming freshmen who plan to attend CSU in the fall of the following year.

Priority is given to students to apply by December 1 (CSU’s priority deadline) but the actual deadline for Honors applications is February 1. Early application is strongly encouraged. By February 1, the program is usually full and qualified students may be placed on a waiting list.

Honors Program applications are reviewed after a student has been officially admitted to CSU. At least two members of the Honors Application Review Committee will review each application.  Acceptance is offered on a rolling basis and students are notified after the Honors review has been completed.  This process may take several weeks especially during peak times (around the December 1 and February 1 deadlines). 

Admitted students will receive an email, followed by a form letter indicating that they have been accepted into the program.  Students who are not admitted will be informed via email.

You only need to submit the Honors application itself. The committee will have access to all of the material in your CSU application, including transcript, recommendation letters and your CSU essay.

Our only formal eligibility requirement is minimum high school GPA of 3.8 (weighted or unweighted, whichever the school provides). However, in reviewing applications, we will consider academic qualifications (GPA, test scores, rank), academic rigor of high school classes (AP/IB/dual enrollment) classes), leadership, community service and other extracurricular activities. Our goal is to attract students with a genuine interest in an honors experience who want to make a significant contribution to the program through interactions with the honors community of scholars and faculty. Students with diverse backgrounds, experiences and interests are especially encouraged to apply.

The Honors Track 2 program was designed for transfer and continuing students at Colorado State University. It provides a way for students that did not enter the Honors program as incoming first-year students to participate in an Honors experience. Track 2 is an Honors program in your major. Please be aware that not all majors have a Track 2 curriculum. Majors that do not currently have a Track 2 program include Construction Management, Data Science, Ethnic Studies, Family and Consumer Sciences, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Statistics, and Women and Gender Studies.