Our Mission:
Helping high-ability students focus their ambitions and curiosity to transform themselves and their world.
Our Vision:
Ensuring every Honors and Scholars Buckeye reaches their individual goals by fostering purposeful learning experiences and providing access to the wealth of opportunities offered by our campus partners. We use G.O.A.L.S. to help frame the buckeye experience and reflect students’ individual pursuits in Global Engagement, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Immersion.
Global Engagement
Honors and Scholars students engage with a diverse, interconnected, and globally conscious world. Through education and stewardship, students will have numerous opportunities to seek global community-engaged learning experiences both in and out of the classroom.
Your goal may be to…
- Enroll in coursework with an international focus.
- Travel on an abroad or immersive experience involving coursework, research, or internship.
- Participate in internationally focused student and community activities.
Original Inquiry
Honors and Scholars students engage in introspective thought and inquisitive questioning in the pursuit of creative and original ideas for the betterment of oneself and world. Whether a student participates in one of Ohio State’s premier research labs, learns a new form of creative expression, or improves their overall wellness, as an Honors or Scholars student, one always pursues inquiry as a way to grow.
Your goal may be to…
- Participate in the undergraduate research process culminating in an Honors Thesis or presentation at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.
- Try a new hobby, learn a language, explore unique courses, or take on other passion projects.
- Practice wellness and better manage stress by exploring group fitness classes or seeking improvement across one of the other ten dimensions of wellness.
Academic Enrichment
Honors and Scholars students enrich their Buckeye experience through academic opportunities both in and out of the classroom. Beyond rigorous and engaging curriculum, our students connect their academic interests with different facets of campus life.
Your goal may be to…
- Pursue rigorous and diverse curricular experiences through Honors course offerings.
- Fully immerse oneself in their Scholars theme through community activities and signature events.
- Seek opportunities to enhance your education at Ohio State or future graduate school plans by pursuing a competitive fellowship with support of the Undergraduate Fellowship Office.
Leadership Development
Honors and Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, their local community, and in their future roles in society. Utilizing their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and talents, students gain knowledge and real-world experience to grow as a leader.
Your goal may be to…
- Seek a leadership opportunity with your Honors or Scholars Community Council.
- Be coached by a peer, faculty, or alumni mentor who shared a similar trajectory in life leading to your future plans.
- Join an Ohio State tradition like BuckeyeThon that is rooted in community and service to reach a massive campus-wide goal.
Service Immersion
Honors and Scholars students commit to service starting with volunteerism and leading to a greater understanding of actions that can address social issues. Guided by principles of community engaged learning, students will partner with local communities to help out, solve problems, and co-create meaningful change.
Your goal may be to…
- Travel with your Honors or Scholars peers on a service immersion trip across Columbus or the nation.
- Conduct independent community-engaged work addressing an issue you feel passionate about.
- Work with a small team of fellow buckeyes to pursue the President’s Buckeye Accelerator grant to support your startup aiming to solve an identified need.
Our Outcomes:
Every program, event, experience, or course offered by the University Honors Program and the Ohio State Scholars Program are intentionally designed to ensure that students:
- Appreciate how curiosity, exploration, and perseverance, are fundamental to the process of learning and the satisfaction of accomplishment.
- Employ appropriate approaches (frameworks), or methodologies (procedures) for the purpose of learning and engaging within or across fields and disciplines.
- Demonstrate the intellectual, interpersonal, and cognitive skills that prepare them to be engaged citizens and leaders for life by productively interacting with people, processes, and tools.
- Understand, read, listen, compose, and speak in a variety of genres and modalities, both individually and as active collaborators, for a range of purposes and audiences.
- Define and assess the extent to which their academic, personal, or professional efforts are relevant, to themselves and others.
- Reflectively evaluate themselves in the context of their values, the feedback of others, and their experiences to create or revise goals.