Honors Institute

How to Join Our Honors Community

Honors Institute courses at Foothill College are open access. You do not need to submit a special application to register for an honors class.

Register for an Honors Class

To register for an honors course, you simply need to identify the course, any prerequisites, and then add the course (as you would with non-honors courses) through the Student Registration tile at myportal.fhda.edu.

Why Take Honors Institute Courses

With Foothill honors courses, you'll dive deeper into the course material within a community of scholars who are interested and curious about deep learning.  

Our honors courses provide a rigorous and stimulating learning environment, one in which you'll develop in-depth research skills, join special focus seminars,  and be eligible for transfer scholarship opportunities. 

We welcome all students, no matter what your background and experience. Our honors faculty are hear to support your learning and see you grow as an honor scholar

 

Hear from Samuel Connell, anthropology honors instructur and former Honors program coordinator, about the reasons to try an honors course.

View Fall Honors Courses

View Current Class Schedule

Meet Our Honors Faculty

 

Honor Scholars Certificate Program

Once enrolled in an honors course, you are immediately an Honors Scholar and on your way to earning an Honor Scholars Certificate.

The program is designed to prepare students who intend to transfer and earn their baccalaureate degree. Upon completion of the program, you'll earn the Honors Scholar Certificate, which is noted on your official college transcript.

Learn more about Honors Scholar Certificate criteria and benefits, You also find a list of academic institution transfer agreements exclusive to the Honors Program.

Questions? Contact us via email or give us a call.   Add the Honors Canvas Course -- for a more community driven experience with honors.

Honors Plan Ahead Cheat Sheet

 

Meet Alekos, a typical honor student at Foothill

"While there may be some legacy perceptions of honors education as narrow, elitist and exclusive, these new standards present honors as inclusive, innovative, relevant and strategically positioned to advance institutional goals (if not lead some of them). The standards, which emphasize inclusive excellence, holistic admission processes and curricular flexibility, also reflect changes that have already been taking place in honors education, especially over the past decade. " (taken from Insider Higher Ed article 11/16/22)

Honors UCLA TAP Transfer Orientation Slides to View

DATA -- UC Campus Transfers by Major - Cool Data to See

You can also increase chances of being accepted to UCLA's College of Letters and Sciences.

Please make sure to meet with an honors counselor on a regular basis and submit a counseling report form on a quarterly basis to ensure you are fulfilling the requirements for General Education, your major, and/or participation in an Honors Transfer Program. Here is an Orientation Powerpoint from last year.

Universities are looking for a few outstanding students who do more than the minimum and actively pursue our honors students.

We are one of only a handful of northern California colleges participating in the prestigious UCLA TAP (Transfer Alliance program).

Plus, you'll have the opportunity to complete the Honors Scholar Program and become eligible for:

• Priority admission consideration if applying to UCLA College of Letters and Science
• Priority admission consideration if applying to UC Irvine Honors Program

Honors Research Events

Each year the Bay Honors Consortium hosts its annual Honors Research Symposium alternating at either Stanford or UC Berkeley. The symposium provides an opportunity for community college honors students to present their original research and to have their work published in The Journal of the Bay Honors Consortium. The Bay Honors Consortium antipates resuming the Research Symposium May 2025 at CAl-Berkeley, all students will not have to pay for attendance.

In addition, the Honors Transfer Council of California, along with UC Irvine, also sponsors the Community College Honors Research Conference. UCI's annual conference allows community college honors students to present their academic work. Students are invited to submit proposals for research-based presentations, posters, and creative performances reflecting inquiry into the humanities, sciences, arts, social sciences, and pre-professional programs.