"The Honors College had a huge impact in opening doors for me that I did not think were possible..."
-Priscilla Jerome, Summer 2023 graduate
The Hicks Honors College provides students with a personalized education that is usually only available at small liberal arts colleges, but at the price of a state university tuition. Averaging only 20 students, Honors classes apply active learning in interdisciplinary settings in order to build a community of learners who have the power to take their learning outside the classroom and apply it to the outside world. In addition, Honors students are offered special funding opportunities to enable them to learn through travel, internships, and research.
You can read more about the Hicks Honors College in our brochure.
Honors students thrive in college, but they also don't hang around forever. The majority of honors students graduate within four years, despite the fact that most study abroad and many of them have double majors and multiple interests.
Graduates of the Hicks Honors College have excellent post-graduate prospects. Recent alumni have attended top graduate schools such as Harvard University, Columbia University, Georgia Tech, University of Pennsylvania, University of South Carolina, Ohio State University, University of Florida, University of Glasgow, etc.
Some examples of jobs they have received include Mayo Clinic Research Associate, Insight Global Recruiter, District Executive Secretary at the Florida House of Representatives, Peace Corps, etc.
It means learning to think carefully and well. It means working with professors who know your name. It means traveling to other countries and learning to understand other cultures. It means being part of a tight-knit community in which everyone is focused on becoming well-rounded individuals and exploring the world beyond lectures and textbooks. It means being supported by faculty who understand that the most meaningful education combines experiential learning and critical thinking. Our classes are heavily discussion-based, with plentiful opportunity for careful, critical thought. Many of our courses include field trips and other activities beyond the classroom so that students have the chance to see how the topic relates to the real world and to apply the skills they've learned.
In high school you get quality points because the class is more advanced and requires more work - it is both faster and more. Honors at UNF also gives you more, but in a different way. We take the best of challenging advanced work and use active and experiential learning techniques to make the subject more project-based, more applied, and more experiential. Some classes replace large traditional General Education offerings with smaller classes that have a more focused theme and an interdisciplinary basis, others are a part of your major but involve research or applied projects, and still, others include a trip abroad or the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member on your own research or a joint project.
Jack Davis graduated from the Hicks Honors College in the spring of 2021 with a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling before returning to work as a Graduate Assistant in the Hicks Honors College for two years. He was instrumental in the creation of the Honors Ghost Tour, which has now become a recurring Honors course. We asked Jack a few questions about his experience:
What initially drew you to the Honors College (i.e., What made you decide to apply?
"I was initially drawn to the Hicks Honors College by the opportunity to enter college with a built-in community of like-minded peers. I was also attracted to the idea of living in a space with a community of students that I shared similarities with"
What has been the most impactful part of the Honors College in your experience?
"I had many impactful experiences in the Hicks Honors College. Perhaps the most important was my time as a facilitator for the National Identity and Migration FYE [First Year Experience] class. As a facilitator, I was tasked with teaching and mentoring a class of first-year Honors students. This experience instilled in me a passion for leadership and gave me the skills and confidence to pursue the career field I am in today."
New students are often worried about balancing their obligations to both the Hicks Honors College and their intended major. What was your experience with this?
"To prospective students who are worried about balancing Honors responsibilities with coursework for their major, I would offer this advice: being a Hicks Honors College will enhance your college experience, not take away from it. Being an Honors student at UNF is not like “Honors” classes in high school. The Hicks Honors College is not about taking difficult classes, it’s about approaching your education with intentionality. The HHC will give you the skills to dive deeper into your major coursework, and a community of students and faculty to support you when challenges arise."
June 30th is the last day to apply to the Hicks Honors College.
It is not required; however, it is highly recommended. Living in the Honors First Year LLC builds a community that lasts throughout your college career and, hopefully, beyond.
In high school you get quality points because the class is more advanced and requires more work - it is both faster and more. Honors at UNF also gives you more, but in a different way. We take the best of challenging advanced work and use active and experiential learning techniques to make the subject more project-based, more applied, and more experiential. Some classes replace large traditional General Education offerings with smaller classes that have a more focused theme and an interdisciplinary basis, others are a part of your major but involved research or applied projects, and still others include a trip abroad or the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member on your own research or a joint project.
In order to get the most out of the Hicks Honors College Experience, we ask you to pay a small supplement of $150 before you begin the program (it will be added to your bill before the first-year student retreat in August). Please be aware that the supplement is not a mandatory fee, but is a small one-time payment that enriches the Honors experience by providing branded apparel and gear; paying for some activities and food that are part of the Honors retreat; offsetting some of the administrative costs of the retreat and first-year experience; paying for supplies for events and activities throughout your time in the program; and covering the cost of medallions and other awards in recognition of your success in the program. The supplement can also be paid with your scholarships and financial aid—it will appear on your bill as HPEX. If you wish to opt-out, you may certainly still participate in Honors, but some of the materials and activities may not be available to you. If circumstances are such, however, that you feel you must opt-out because of financial limitations, please contact us before you do so.
There are some Honors courses that have special requirements that necessitate an additional fee that is essentially a lab or travel fee. For example, students enrolled in the First Year Colloquium course are required to pay a $40 fee to cover the costs associated with special course materials. Each semester, any extra fees associated with a particular class will be clearly identified in the course descriptions that we send out to all students several weeks before the registration date.
The Honors move-in day is August 18th, the Wednesday before classes start. Housing charges a $50 early move-in fee that all Honors students living on campus must pay to participate in the Retreat. This is a special opportunity for Honors students to move in two days ahead of the general campus population.
All fees are non-refundable and will be added to the student's account prior to Fall Semester. If you have a question regarding these fees, contact honors@unf.edu.
The Honors Retreat begins on Wednesday, August 18th when first-year Honors students move in. It is a three-day event designed to familiarize students with campus and get to know their fellow Honors students.
We consider academic ability and motivation, but also look at evidence of engagement—that is, meaningful involvement in activities outside of academics, such as community involvement, leadership, etc. We look closely at the self-assessment and essays portion of the application in order to get a sense of you as a person. We consider GPA and test scores, but only in conjunction with the other components of the application. There is no absolute cutoff, but most often those who are accepted into the program have a weighted GPA of 4.0 or above, an SAT of 1200 or above (or an ACT of 26 or above). Though letters of recommendation are not required, they are often helpful in giving us other perspective(s) on your motivation, abilities, and accomplishments, so we encourage and welcome you to submit them (instructions are on the application form). If you need to have someone else submit them for confidentiality reasons, please ask for your letter(s) to be emailed to honors@unf.edu. The subject line of the email should contain your full name and make it clear that it is a letter of recommendation (or LOR). You also will have the opportunity to submit a short video of yourself answering a prompt. It is not required either, but we welcome you to submit one.
If you have any Honors admissions questions, please call (904) 620-2649 or e-mail honors@unf.edu.
