The Honors Program accepts applications from prospective high school students, transfer students, and SUNY New Paltz students up through their junior year.
Choose one of the links below to download the appropriate application.
- High school students and current First Year Students *
- Current SUNY New Paltz or transfer students *
There are three basic requirements for graduating with honors:
1. Seminars: All Honors Students must take four three-credit seminars over their four years at SUNY New Paltz. These seminars all fulfill GE requirements, and - with the exception of The Individual and Society - all are upper-division.
The seminars are all cross-disciplinary, and on a variety of topics. In the past, we have offered the following seminars:
- Education and Indoctrination
- Evolution and Diversity
- Language and its Limits
- The Psychology of Terrorism
- The Philosophy of Death
- Biotechnology and the Human Condition
- The Sociology of Love
- Congress and the President
- Democracy
- Governing New York State
- Historic and Literary Retellings
- The Human Condition: Transcultural Explorations
- Imagining Utopia in Anglo-American Literature and Culture
- Leadership
- Major Biological Concepts
- The Media and America
- Topics in the History of Science and Mathematics
2. Community Service: All Honors Students must complete at least thirty hours of community service before graduating (though we hope you would do more!). This service can be done on-campus, at home over the summer, or even in the Honors Center. We have a list of suggested places to do community service.
3. Senior Thesis: Before graduating, all Honors Students must complete a senior thesis project. The specific type of the project can vary depending on your own focus. Students in the natural sciences tend to do laboratory experiments, while students in the Humanities tend to write papers. Art students usually put up an exhibition of their work in the Honors Center.
Students also have a chance to present their senior theses in a special ceremony the day before graduation. The president of the college attends these ceremonies to award you with a special Honors sash to wear at graduation.
Here's a listing of several recent graduate's thesis projects:
"The Relationship between Violent Video Games and Aggression in Terms of Psychological and Physiological Changes"
- Christopher Phillips, '04
"All Judgments are Not Created Equal: Effects of Evolutionary Relevance on Decision Making"
- Kristin Leigh Renstrom, '04
"Contemporary Applications of the Native American Medicine Wheel"
- Abrah Jordan Dresdale, '04
"Humanitarian Intervention: The Dilemma between Sovereignty and Human Rights"
- Sara C. LaFave, '03
"How to Kill Yourself with Moral Worth: The Case for A Kantian Defense of Suicide for the Sake of Dignity"
- Brian Berner, '03
"Determination of T-Cell Anergy Induction via Modeled Microgravity Exposure"
- David Sela, '03
"Postmodernism and Educational Practice"
- Sean M. Endress, '03
