Graduation Requirements

Faculty members teaching Honors College courses represent a multitude of disciplines from across the university and course content varies widely by professor. To browse current course topics at every level, see our page on Current Course Offerings

As for how you distribute the requirements across your time at the UO, the CHC curriculum is flexible and will work in conjunction with your intended major's requirements. Our sample graduation plans can give you an idea of ways you might cluster or spread out requirements in order to attain balance, study abroad or graduate early. 

Graduation requirement

How to fulfill it

Foundations in Liberal Arts Inquiry

Taken in the first term, this introduction to seminar-style learning emphasizes the writing process and developing clarity of expression and argument, use of evidence, and effective revision practices—skills that serve as the foundation for the rest of the curriculum.

  • HC 101H: Foundations in Liberal Arts Inquiry

CHC Disciplinary Courses

Learn different ways to think and problem-solve across diverse disciplines while developing communication and critical reasoning skills. Courses can be taken in any order. 

  • HC 231H: Social Science Inquiry
  • HC 221H: Arts and Letters Inquiry
  • HC 241H: Scientific Inquiry

UO Disciplinary Courses ~

Explore various majors and minors through their foundational course offerings.

  • One UO Arts & Letters course (Area of Inquiry >1)
  • One UO Social Science course (Area of Inquiry >2)
  • One UO Science course (Area of Inquiry >3)

UO courses that satisfy this requirement can be found on the Registrar's Areas of Inquiry page

Quantitative Requirement ~

Strengthen your skills in mathematics or other quantitative fields. 

  • One course in college-level Mathematics or Computer Science, designated as >4 or >5 on the UO class schedule.

Research and Writing

Engage in a challenging, term-length research project, developing your skills in research planning, ethics, execution and dissemination.

  • HC 301H: Research and Writing

Colloquium Requirement * 

Innovative and often interdisciplinary courses ask you to engage at an advanced level. 

  • HC 421H: Arts & Letters Colloquium
  • HC 431H: Social Science Colloquium
  • HC 441H: Science Colloquium

CHC Electives Requirement

You can fulfill your electives requirement three different ways! Study Abroad Classes (depending on the type of coursework) can substitute for colloquia in Options A or B, or fulfill both CHC electives via the language study pathway in Option C. 

  • Option A: two colloquia (any colloquium course numbers)
  • Option B: one colloquium (any colloquium course number) and 4 Independent Study Credits related to the thesis
  • Option C: 12 credits of language study at UO or through a UO-sponsored study abroad.  

Thesis Requirement

Your CHC Thesis Project is a culmination of your undergraduate work. You will design and conduct original research; translate your results for a broad audience and present them in a format that you determine; and orally defend your work to your faculty thesis committee. 

  • HC 277H: Thesis Orientation
  • HC 477H: Thesis Prospectus
  • Thesis and Defense

You may use certain transfer, AP, IB, and/or CLEP credits to fulfill this requirement. See the CHC Transfer Credit Guide

CHC students must satisfy the UO Cultural Literacy Requirement. This requirement can be fulfilled using UO classes or with selected colloquia designated as HC 434H (Global Perspectives) or HC 444H (US: Difference, Inequality, Agency)


Your Degree Guide: An Important Resource 

Your Degree Guide is found in DuckWeb and tracks your progress toward graduation. The guide monitors the university requirements, Clark Honors College requirements, and the requirements for your majors and minors, all in one place. 

The Degree Guide is a resource to assist you in course planning and degree tracking, but it is not an official guarantee of degree completion. You should always consult with your CHC and major advisors to discuss your progress and verify that you are satisfying the necessary requirements. 

Grades and Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) 

Unless pass/no-pass is the only option available, you must take all required courses with an HC subject code for a grade and pass the course with a C-minus or above. Courses that do not have an HC subject code such as those that satisfy the UO Disciplinary Requirement (one class each from UO approved lists in the Arts and Letters, Social Science, and Science Areas of Inquiry), quantitative requirement, and second language requirement may be taken for a grade or taken P/NP. You must maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA across all courses you take at the university. If your GPA slips below 3.0, you will be notified by the CHC to meet with your CHC advisor, who will work with you to develop a plan to get you back on track.