Baylor's Honors College: A Place for Every Student
Far from a one-size-fits-all approach, Baylor’s Honors College offers five appealing academic opportunities that elevate undergraduate education, each in its own way. Inspiring, interdisciplinary curricula help students explore, with breadth and depth, the most important questions, urgent issues, and powerful insights that arise within and across specialized disciplines. Over 55 dedicated Honors College faculty and staff support students in realizing their unique possibilities in an academic community that is both inviting and fulfilling.
The College welcomes students into five innovative opportunities: the Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.), Great Texts of the Western Tradition, University Scholars, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, and the Honors Program. The Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) is a distinct degree program offered by the Honors College. Great Texts of the Western Tradition and University Scholars are majors within the College, while the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) and the Honors Program complement a student’s declared major from almost any department at Baylor. Every year, around 1,400 undergraduates at Baylor mix and match these stellar opportunities with more than 90 different academic majors. Here is a breakdown of what makes these programs unique:
Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil. Degree)
The Bachelor of Philosophy is the newest degree in the Honors College, designed for academically ambitious students who seek a rigorous, comprehensive education that integrates the best of Baylor’s liberal arts tradition.
B.Phil. students pursue a primary major in Great Texts of the Western Tradition and are required to pair it with a secondary major from another discipline. Alongside this, they enroll in the Honors Program and complete a senior thesis under faculty mentorship. This combination offers depth in Great Texts, breadth across disciplines, and advanced opportunities for research.
The B.Phil. is especially well-suited for students preparing for graduate school, law, medicine, ministry, and leadership roles where intellectual versatility and integrative thinking are essential. It stands apart as one of the most rigorous and distinctive undergraduate degrees in the country.
Great Texts of the Western Tradition (Major)
The Great Texts major explores the Western intellectual heritage through studying some of the most enduring and influential works of literature, philosophy, theology, and politics, from antiquity to the present. Seminar-style courses aim to expand students’ intellectual horizons and teach writing and critical thinking skills vital for many careers and graduate programs.
Students can also choose to pursue Great Texts as a minor or secondary major to complement other fields of study. However, students do not have to declare Great Texts as a major to take its courses—these seminars are also part of the curriculum for students in the Honors Program, University Scholars, and even students in the School of Engineering and Computer Science.
University Scholars (Major)
The University Scholars major allows students the opportunity to craft a unique, individualized curriculum. Exempt from the majority of Baylor’s core curriculum, students work closely with a faculty director to create a course of study tailored to their academic and professional goals.
The individualized curriculum allows students to pursue work in multiple fields across the arts and sciences for an educational experience that is both versatile and unique. Students with a University Scholars major select one or more areas of academic concentration to direct their overall course of study. The program also includes an exit interview, for which students create an independent reading list, and a thesis, in which students conduct research under the direction of a faculty mentor. All students in University Scholars are also in the Honors Program.
Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC)
The BIC offers an alternative to Baylor’s core curriculum that integrates traditional general education subjects into a comprehensive and coherent whole. Coursework explores the interrelation of humanities and social sciences through literature and thought from around the world, providing students with a broad context to understand the contemporary world from a global perspective.
BIC students represent many of the various majors offered at Baylor. The BIC curriculum is completed largely during the freshman and sophomore years, and students advance through the coursework with a cohort. Courses are team-taught, so students benefit from the diversity in professors’ approaches and academic disciplines.
Honors Program
The Honors Program is one pathway for students to join the Honors College, but not all students in the College are in the Honors Program. This program is perhaps what most people are familiar with when they think of a traditional-style undergraduate honors education, marked by special classes, research, and a thesis project, providing academic enhancements to students in any major at Baylor. Honors faculty come from a variety of academic fields, and they serve as mentors to students.
The curriculum begins with a First Year Seminar followed by two semesters of Great Texts courses. After these introductory classes, students take a variety of other Honors classes, the majority of which happen in their chosen major. The Honors Program curriculum culminates in a senior thesis, during which students work with a mentor who guides them in choosing and pursuing a research question to produce and defend original research.
Together, these five pathways reflect the Honors College’s commitment to providing a transformative education that is both rigorous and flexible. Whether through a supplemental honors experience, an alternative core, a specialized major, or the B.Phil. degree, students are equipped to pursue their deepest questions, engage across disciplines, and prepare for lives of leadership, service, and meaning.
If you are interested in applying to the Honors College, visit goBAYLOR to begin the Elite Academic Programs Application.