Welcome to Marshall University

Honors graduates, clockwise from top left: Kim Bradshaw, 1997, medical residency; Eric Butler, 2000, Ph.D. program, Philosophy; Elliot Dorsey, 1997, medical residency; Alison Gerlach, 2000, Law School

Marshall University's Honors program offers challenging Honors courses in a small class setting, personalized advising, travel opportunities, and social and cultural activities. The interdisciplinary curriculum, which is developed by faculty recognized for excellence in teaching, emphasizes critical thinking, communications skills, and collaborative learning. Housed in Marshall's Center for Academic Excellence, the Honors program provides a community of learning within the larger university community. Students and faculty work together closely. Students have an opportunity to exchange ideas and points of view in a unique atmosphere of shared learning and respect. Honors graduates take with them precisely those experiences which serve them so well in their personal and professional lives.

Our Mission Statement:

The Mission of the Honors Program is:

to offer an enhanced educational experience to academically talented and highly motivated students;
to design, in collaboration with faculty recognized for excellence in teaching, an innovative, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, communications skills, and collaborative learning;
to supplement that curriculum with enriched academic opportunities consisting of outside lectures, field work, or course-related travel.

To this end, students participating in the Honors Program will:

develop confidence in their abilities to understand and discuss complex ideas and texts, as well as to engage in problem solving and research design;

learn to apply this new knowledge in meaningful ways that will help them succeed in their professional and personal lives following college;

strengthen their written and oral communication skills;

master an ability to work effectively in groups of diverse people;

make connections between disciplines;

enjoy a range of supplemental experiences of an academic and social nature with similarly motivated and talented students.