Overview

The Honors Program at LAU invites exceptionally motivated and academically talented students from various disciplines to enhance their educational experience by honing their analytical and expressive powers, deepening their understanding of complex issues and questions, and broadening their perspectives. The program frames opportunities that are intellectually rigorous and inspired by foundational and advanced work in interdisciplinary thematic areas.

The program is aligned with the highest academic aspirations of LAU’s schools and departments, empowering students through resources within the program as well as the larger LAU, and connecting them to an active community of thinkers committed to making a difference.

Mission

The Honors Program is committed to providing Honors students with enhanced opportunities that will empower them academically, professionally and personally in meeting today’s challenges.

Admission

Students at LAU are eligible for admission to the Honors Program after completing at least 15 credits at LAU with a minimum CGPA of 3.5. The Honors Program is keen on selecting students based on both their academic achievement and their academic approach; students who take an active approach to learning, take ownership of personal education and make the most of their experience at LAU. In addition to student transcripts, the selection process will include an interview.

The deadline to apply for the academic year 2016–2017 is June 24, 2016. Students are notified of the final decisions by the end of July.

Graduation Requirements and Regulations

The Honors Program is an established program with regulations and graduation requirements:

• Honors courses may not be audited or taken for a P/NP grade;
• There are a limited number of Honors sections with no more than 25 students per class section;
• Students must complete six Honors courses (18 credits);
• Students must complete 3 or 4 Honors courses from the Liberal Arts Curriculum, and 2 or 3 major-specific Honors courses;
• Honors courses, identified by the letter ‘H’ next to their number, are offered each semester exclusively for Honors Program students;
• Honors courses are not extra courses; they count toward the requirements for LAC and the student’s major. If a student doesn’t complete all the requirements of the Honors Program, all credits earned in Honors courses will count toward graduation;
• Upon graduation, the distinction of “University Honors” will appear on the student’s transcript and permanent records; and
• Students are expected to maintain a clean record (no violations of academic integrity) and a 3.5 CGPA (if a student has completed 90 credits or less) or 3.2 CGPA (if a student has completed more than 90 credits) to continue in the Honors Program. If the CGPA falls below the required GPA, but is at least 3.0, a student will be placed on Honors probation for one semester, excluding summer. If the required GPA is not attained by the end of the probationary semester, a student will be dismissed from the Honors Program.

Honors Courses

Honors courses emphasize enriched rather than accelerated learning for a greater intellectual and emotional investment. All Honors students participate in Honors courses, which are separate from regular courses and feature an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of topics taught by faculty across the colleges.

Honors courses enhance the undergraduate learning experience through smaller class sizes (an average of 20 students per class), increased student-faculty interaction, more individual attention, discussion-oriented sessions of contemporary issues, team-based projects specially designed to challenge talented students, and LAU’s accomplished Honors faculty.

Currently, business, economics, architecture, political science, computer science, engineering, and biology are the five majors available in the Honors Program; additional majors, based on student applications and feedback received from currently enrolled students, will be introduced. Because course offerings are continuously updated, students are urged to check with the Honors Program office for the latest additions.

For information on course update, check with the office of the Honors Program or contact the program director.

Contact Information

Beirut Campus
Nicol Hall, RM 307A

Byblos Campus
Block A 820

Director
Sandra Rizk, Ph.D., Biology
sandra.rizk@lau.edu.lb.

For more information, visit Honors Program.