35 Park Place
Phone: 740.593.2723
Fax: 740.593.9521
honors.college@ohio.edu
www.ohio.edu/honors

Jeremy Webster, Dean
Jan Hodson, Assistant Dean

The Honors Tutorial College offers 32 challenging programs of study that provide a unique undergraduate educational experience to a select number of qualified students.

Students admitted to the College undertake a substantial portion of the core curriculum in their respective disciplines through a series of tutorials. A tutorial consists of a full-time faculty member meeting with students either singly or in small seminars. In pursuing this method of instruction, the College draws upon the rich educational traditions of British universities, such as Cambridge and Oxford. Although other colleges and universities have adopted some aspects of the tutorial model, Ohio University remains the only institution in the United States with a degree-granting college incorporating all the essential features of a tutorial-based education. The success of the College’s approach to undergraduate education is evident in its distinguished 34-year history and the impressive achievements of its alumni.

Goals, Resources, and Expectations of the College

Through flexibility, mentoring, and abundant academic resources, the Honors Tutorial College aims to give high-ability students every opportunity to further their intellectual development. College requirements are kept to a minimum in order to allow students to explore a range of disciplines, engage in substantial creative and/or research work, acquire a high degree of proficiency in a particular subject matter, and participate in meaningful extracurricular activities. Tutorials allow individuals to work closely with accomplished scholars who take particular pride in helping Honors Tutorial College students fulfill their current and future ambitions. This special combination of freedom and guidance, which is one of the hallmarks of the College, is enhanced by the number of exclusive academic resources made available to its students. These include priority registration, special residence hall availability, enhanced library privileges, research support, eligibility to undertake graduate work, unique education-abroad opportunities, and scholarship availability.

A tutorial-based curriculum requires highly developed academic abilities, but it also necessitates motivation, maturity, focus, energy, and a combination of self-confidence and humility. To succeed in the Honors Tutorial College, a student must recognize that she or he bears the responsibility for understanding each week’s tutorial material. All tutorials are dialogs—exchanges of thoughts, questions, and possibilities—not lectures. There are no back-row seats in a tutorial.  At every tutorial, students are called on to participate in an intellectual exchange in which quality is measured by thoughtful mastery of the subject under consideration.

In addition to being comfortable with the expectations of the tutorial mode of instruction, students must also consider other characteristics of the College. These include participation of all Honors Tutorial College freshmen in a seminar held during fall semester and an expectation that membership in the College brings with it community service obligations. The seminar and community service work play a critical role in establishing camaraderie among students and maintaining a vibrant, active community of young scholars.

Honors Tutorial College Programs of Study

Through formal arrangements with various academic departments in the University, the Honors Tutorial College offers majors in:

Anthropology
Art History
Astrophysics
Biological Sciences
Business
Chemistry/Biochemistry
Classics
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Communication Studies
Computer Science
Dance
Economics
Engineering Physics
English
Environmental and Plant Biology
Film
French
Geography
History
Journalism
Mathematics
Media Arts and Studies
Music
Neuroscience
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Social Work
Sociology/Sociology Criminology
Spanish
Studio Art
Theater

Only these disciplines are available as programs of study at the present time.

Detailed descriptions of programs of study can be seen on the College website, www.ohio.edu/honors

Administration and Content of Programs of Study

Programs of study are administered by full-time faculty members appointed by the College. These professors, known as directors of studies, act as academic advisors, work with their colleagues to arrange tutorials, conduct admission interviews, and coordinate other aspects of their particular programs of study.

Although directors of studies assist students in selecting the proper courses each semester, students are responsible for seeing that all requirements are met.

Each program of study has its own set of specific academic goals. All programs involve tutorials, but some also ask students to complete a sequence of collateral studies, to participate in a seminar or a lecture series, to pass a set of comprehensive examinations, or to undertake laboratory, field, or studio work. All programs of study also require the completion of a thesis project. Detailed descriptions of the academic expectations for each program of study can be found on the College website or obtained by contacting the College by mail or email.

Degree Requirements

To earn a bachelor’s degree in the Honors Tutorial College, you must fulfill all the academic requirements of your program of study, maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.5, and satisfy the University’s English composition requirements. You must also participate in a freshman seminar and a community service project.

The Honors Tutorial College does not mandate a fixed hour or residency requirement, or a specific course distribution (except as required by individual programs of study). To earn a second bachelor’s degree in another college at Ohio University, you also must complete all the requirements established by the second college.

Degrees conferred by the College include the Bachelor of Fine Arts in (major), Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Bachelor of Science in Communication in (major), Bachelor of Arts in (major), Bachelor of Science in (major), and Bachelor of Business Administration.

Placement of Graduates

The Honors Tutorial College has earned a reputation for graduate and professional school placement. To date, most students wishing to continue their educations have been placed in noted master’s programs, doctoral programs, law schools, and medical schools. Other graduates have found readily employment in fields related to their undergraduate work, particularly in journalism, theater, communication sciences and disorders, and business. The small size of the College and the nature of the curriculum allow faculty and the administrators of the College to be of maximum assistance in career planning and graduate school applications.

Housing Privileges

If you are admitted to the Honors Tutorial College, you will be eligible to live in Hoover House, or the Read/Johnson Scholars Complex. Both housing options provide environments conducive to students who must master the academic challenges of Honors Tutorial College programs of study. The College provides detailed information about the specific characteristics of each dormitory to students who have been offered admission.

Application and Admissions

Because of the nature of its core curriculum, the Honors Tutorial College must restrict the number of students it can accept each year. As a result, the admissions climate is highly competitive. A variety of elements play a role in admissions decisions. For complete application information, please see the College’s Web site: http://www.ohio.edu/honors/how to apply.

The application deadline is December 1. Applicants are urged to read the HTC instructions included with the Ohio University admission application. Some HTC programs require submission of writing samples, portfolios, and letters of recommendation. In addition, there are three essay questions on the HTC supplement to the Ohio University admission application.

Decisions about which students will be invited to campus for a personal interview are made after two rounds of file review. These interviews, held in winter of the year that an applicant wishes to enter the College, are a required part of the admission process. After all of the interviews are conducted, a determination will be made about which applicants are to be offered admission. Individuals who are invited to join the College must accept or decline admission by May 1.

Transfer Admission 

Transfer opportunities in the Honors Tutorial College are limited due to the academic requirements of the College and the tutorial nature of instruction.

• Ohio University students beyond the freshman year will not be considered for transfer. Freshmen currently on the Ohio University campus must apply by December 1 to be considered for transfer into the College. Applications cannot be made online. Interested freshmen must contact the College office for guidance (phone: 740.593.2723 or honors.college@ohio.edu).
• Off campus students who seek to transfer must do so no later than their freshman year of study. They should contact the Honors Tutorial College office for guidance (phone: 740.593.2723).

Education Abroad

For information about education abroad opportunities, refer to the Office of Education Abroad website.

Office of Nationally Competitive Awards (ONCA)

For information about ONCA, refer to its website.