Honors: Program Requirements

View a list of requirements for the Walton Honors program.

Requirements for Walton Scholars Program

  1. Complete 21 hours in honors courses with a minimum of 9 hours completed from the following honors business courses: ACCT 201H3, ACCT 202H3, BLAW 200H3, ECON 210H3, ECON 220H3, ISYS 210H3, MGMT 210H3, MKTG 343H3, SCMT 210H3, BUSI 103H3 or FINN 204H3 (excluding BUSI 111H1). The remaining honors hours may be selected from the State Minimum Core. Completing honors courses in the Fulbright College will fulfill this requirement.  MATH 25004 may be used as honors credit towards completion of the 21 required honors hours. Students must complete a minimum of 12 honors hours within the first 30 hours at the Fayetteville campus.
  2. Students must also complete MATH 24004 with a grade of “C” within the first 45 hours at the Fayetteville campus prior to taking upper level business classes.
  3. Complete the following honors courses in Walton College:
    1. Two 3-hour colloquium courses chosen from the following: BUSI 300H3 (may be repeated for up to 6 hours of credit), ACCT 400H3, ACCT 412H3, ECON 400H3, FINN 400H3, ISYS 400H3, MKTG 400H3, SCMT 400H3, SEVI 400H3, HNRS 300H1, HNRS 301H1, or HNRS 401H3 (or other honors colloquium courses (3000/4000 level only) offered in other colleges with approval of the Honors Director). The following courses may be repeated for up to 6 hours of credit with prior approval: BUSI 300H3, ACCT 400H3, ECON 400H3, FINN 400H3, ISYS 400H3, MKTG 400H3, SCMT 400H3, SEVI 400H3. At least 3 hours of honors colloquium courses must be from the Walton College. Any course outside the Walton College would ordinarily count toward fulfilling general education electives and would not count toward junior/senior business elective credit.  
    2. A three-hour thesis (BUSI 499HV): The thesis is a major independent writing project under the leadership of a Walton College or University of Arkansas faculty member and arises from a research project, business plan, business competition, or internship.
  4. Complete an alternate honors capstone course SEVI 301H3 Honors Strategic Management, which should be completed within the first 90 hours at the Fayetteville campus.

Requirements for the Departmental Scholars Program

Admission to the Honors Program as a departmental scholar is available in two ways:
  1. As a second-semester freshman with ONE of the high school qualifiers (28 ACT/1310 SAT or 3.85 GPA) and a UARK 3.75 GPA.
  2. Current students with a UARK cumulative 3.75 GPA and not within 3 semesters of graduation.  

Transfer students may also apply upon completion of one semester at the University of Arkansas with a GPA of 3.75. All students must complete an application to be considered for acceptance into the departmental scholars program.

  1. Complete 12 hours of honors courses to be selected from pre-business core or State Minimum Core. MATH 25004 may be used as honors credit towards completion of the 12 required honors hours.
  2. Students must also complete MATH 24004 with a grade of “C” or better within the first 60 hours at the Fayetteville campus and prior to taking upper level business courses.
  3. Complete the following courses in Walton College:
    1. Two 3-hour colloquium courses chosen from the following: BUSI 300H3 (May be repeated for up to 6 hours of credit), ACCT 400H3, ACCT 412H3, ECON 400H3, FINN 400H3, ISYS 400H3, MKTG 400H3, SCMT 400H3, SEVI 400H3, HNRS 300H1, HNRS 301H1, HNRS 401H3 (or other honors colloquium courses (3000/4000 level only) offered in other colleges with approval of the Honors Director). The following courses may be repeated for up to 6 hours of credit with prior approval: BUSI 300H3, ACCT 400H3, ECON 400H3, FINN 400H3, ISYS 400H3, MKTG 400H3, SCMT 400H3, SEVI 400H3. At least 3 hours of honors colloquium courses must be from the Walton College. Any course outside of the Walton College would count toward fulfilling general education electives and would not count toward junior/senior business elective credit. 
    2. A three-hour thesis (BUSI 499HV): The thesis is a major independent writing project under the leadership of a Walton College or University of Arkansas faculty member and arises from a research project, business plan, business competition, or internship.
  4. Complete the honors capstone course SEVI 301H3 Honors Strategic Management, which should be completed within the first 90 hours at the Fayetteville campus.

Eligibility for the Honors Program

Admission will be offered to incoming freshmen with a minimum 28 ACT/1310 SAT or higher and a high school GPA of 3.85. All Walton Scholars Honors students are required to place a score of 26 ACT/620 SAT or higher on the math portion, or a score of at least 60 on the Math Placement Test, and are required to take MATH 20503 Finite Math in their first semester unless they already have AP/IB/dual credit for the course. Honors students are required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.75 with no grades of “D” or “F” in any course to remain in the program. All honors students are required to meet with the associate or assistant director for honors programs each semester to monitor progress of honors requirements. Students who maintain a GPA of 3.75 but do not complete honors requirements in a timely manner are subject to removal from the Honors Program at the discretion of the director of the honors program.

Probation Guidelines

  1. Honors Enrollment Exceptions
    If students are admitted into the Walton Honors Program as first-semester freshmen with the qualifying criteria (3.85 minimum HS GPA and 28 ACT/1310 SAT), and have their HS GPA recalculated to be lower than the qualifying criteria after successful admission, those students will be placed on a one-semester probation during their first semester at the University of Arkansas.
  2. First Time on Probation Students
    Members of the Walton Honors program must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher. Should a student’s GPA fall below 3.75, that student will be placed on honors probation for the following semester. During this probationary period, the student will retain the privileges of membership in the Walton Honors Program and Honors College, and they will have the chance to raise their cumulative University of Arkansas GPA to 3.75.  If at the end of the probationary semester the student’s cumulative GPA remains below 3.75, the student will be removed from the Walton Honors program and the Honors College. 

Honors Distinction Levels

Students successfully completing the Walton Honors Program are eligible to receive a baccalaureate degree with a distinction of:

Summa Cum Laude will be awarded honors students graduating with a GPA in the top 20% of their graduating Walton Honors class.

Magna Cum Laude will be awarded honors students graduating with a GPA in the next 30% of their graduating Walton Honors class.

Cum Laude will be awarded honors students graduating with a GPA in the final 50% of their graduating Walton Honors class.