Deans Scholars Photo

Consistent with Franciscan values, the Mission of the Honors Program experience at Lourdes University is to enrich the community by providing motivated and talented students with a challenging, interdisciplinary, research-oriented environment designed to enhance creative thinking and critical inquiry. The Honors Program experience prepares students to become dynamic leaders and passionately engaged global citizens through vibrant scholarly and cultural opportunities.

Philosophies and Goals

The Honors Program, through its curriculum, its learning beyond the classroom experiences and its own mission, promotes the institution’s philosophies and goals, especially those that:

  • Work to develop a spirit of inquiry
  • Learn to think logically, to communicate persuasively, to analyze rigorously and to solve problems systematically
  • Formulate worthy goals
  • Clarify career expectations and explore career options
  • Help students become all that they are capable of becoming

Guiding Principles

For the Lourdes Honors Community:

  1. The Lourdes Honors Community will function as an interdisciplinary community of scholars, dedicated to high ethical standards of learning, reverence, service, and leadership.
  2. The Honors Community will accept and engage students who are talented and motivated, providing a space and place for their development as leaders within their disciplines.
  3. Honors students and faculty will embrace inquiry-based learning, promoting the “life of the mind” and a culture of inquiry, as evidenced by their involvement in research and scholarship projects and experiences.

For the Honors Academic Program:

  1. The credit hour requirements for an Honors Program will be embedded within the student’s core curriculum and academic major requirements, resulting in the same number of credit hours and tuition requirements as a non-honors degree program.
  2. Honors courses will provide a rich, interactive environment by being offered in honors-focused, small class environments, designed and delivered specifically for honors students.
  3. Honors courses will place greater emphasis than traditional courses on learning how knowledge is created, discerned, examined, tested, revised, and applied.

For the Honors Experience:

  1. The Honors Program will provide opportunities for scholarly experiences for both students and faculty.
  2. The Honors experience will include requirements for experiences in leadership development and service learning, focusing on engagement within our regional community.
  3. In the Honors courses and Honors experience, students are expected to take responsibility for learning, both within and outside the classroom.