Program Guide

This guide contains almost everything you need to know about the program. Please keep it handy. It supersedes the earlier version of the guide and, we hope, makes requirements and procedures clearer.

On This Page:

The Program and its Mission

The Thomas Hunter Honors Program is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide superior students with an individualized course of study adapted to their particular needs and interests. Open to students of high intellectual ability and interdisciplinary interests who are pursuing a BA degree, it is compatible with most Arts and Sciences majors.  It provides its participants the chance to study with outstanding faculty members who have indicated an interest in assisting exceptional students. In general, students selected for the Thomas Hunter Honors Program must show evidence of high academic potential, diversified interests and intellectual curiosity, willingness to challenge themselves, and sufficient maturity to plan and carry out an individualized program of study in semesterly consultation with a Council on Honors faculty advisor.

The Council

The Council on Honors is the interdisciplinary faculty body that governs the Thomas Hunter Honors Program. The current members list can be found on the Council Members page.

Program Admission

Students selected for the Thomas Hunter Honors Program must show evidence of high academic achievement and potential, diversified interests and intellectual passions, and sufficient maturity to plan and complete an individualized program of study in consultation with faculty advisors serving on the Council on Honors.

Students in BA programs who have accumulated between 24 and 70 credits (at least 24 of which are Hunter credits, 15 Hunter credits for transfer students) with a 3.65 or better cumulative average are invited to be interviewed for the Program. These 50-minute interviews are conducted in the early fall and spring by faculty members of the Council on Honors. Students must write a short essay explaining why they want to pursue interdisciplinary studies and provide a graded writing sample from one of their Hunter courses.

The Thomas Hunter Honors Program is for students pursuing a first BA degree and is compatible with most liberal arts majors, as well as interdisciplinary concentrations, such as Public Policy and Human Rights. The Program also provides the opportunity for students to design a personalized interdisciplinary major.

Program Acceptance

Program Obligations

Program Requirements

To graduate from the THHP you must complete the following:

  • Three integrative interdisciplinary colloquia
  • Nine-credit secondary ("mini") concentration
  • A breadth of courses in all of the divisions of the Arts and Sciences, including Humanities and Arts, Social Science, and Science and Mathematics
  • Meet with a THHP advisor for general academic advising at least once per semester
  • In their departmental major, students must do honors work as defined by their department.
Visit Academics Page For More Details

Degree Audit

Degree Audit is now processed completely online.

Once you have completed 90 credits at Hunter, you will receive an e-mail from the Office of the Registrar, informing you that you can apply to graduate.

  1. You should only apply if you are certain that you will have completed all of the requirements to graduate in the semester indicated in the e-mail.
  2. Once you have applied to graduate, you should meet with a THHP advisor for a "pre-audit" meeting. Since you can apply up to a year before you graduate, you will still need to meet with an advisor at the start of the semester in which you are actually graduating.
  3. If, after you have filed for graduation, you cannot complete all of your graduation requirements, notify the Degree Audit division to cancel your graduation, and file to graduate in the following semester. You will not be able to register for courses unless you cancel your audit.

Keep checking your @myHunter email for updates from Degree Audit.

Advising Requirements

You are required to meet with a THHP advisor for general academic advising at least once per semester. During the semester in which you are accepted into the Program, you must meet with an advisor twice (once for a welcome session immediately after you are accepted, and the second time for registration advising). Five professors advise for the Program each semester. You may see any or all advisors. You can choose an advisor because he/she interviewed you, or you have taken a class with him/her, or because you like him/her, or perhaps only one advisor’s schedule suits yours.

If you fail to meet with an advisor once a semester, the designation “PHON” will be removed from your student group. You would lose all the privileges granted to members of the THHP, including priority registration. You are required to see an advisor every semester even after you have been certified in order to avoid any academic or bureaucratic problems that might come up, and to avoid nasty surprises at graduation audit time. It is too late to find out in your last semester that you haven’t done something essential. You should make sure your advisor reviews all requirements with you several semesters before you plan to graduate. Your advisor can also help you with your personal statement for scholarships and graduate applications.

View Advising Hours

Significant Odds and Ends

Miscellaneous Information