Nothing! You do the Honors credit in classes you are already taking, or you take the Honors version of the General Education class you’d be taking anyway for your degree.  

No. There are several ways to earn Honors credit. Honors courses are one great way to earn credit, but no specific courses are required. Many Honors students find that they can fulfill the University Honors requirements while also counting many of the same credits toward UMKC’s General Education requirements. Many different pathways are possible. It is always a good idea to meet with the Student Services Director or an Ambassador to map out your own individual plan to fulfill the University Honors requirements. 

No, but plan on completing 2-3 Honors experiences per year to stay on track. Avoid doing most of your Honors credits in your last year.  

Honors credit can be earned through a variety of ways, including Honors-only courses, Honors Discussion Groups, contracts, Beyond the Classroom experiences, Study Abroad, and/or graduate coursework. Almost all Honors credit is earned concurrently with degree requirements - there is no additional costs or classes required to graduate with Honors. Visit our How to Earn Honors Credit webpage to learn more.  

Our webpage has that information, on the Courses page or Honors Discussion Group page. 

Reach out to  Study Abroad & Global Engagement (SAGE) . If you do study abroad, be sure to fill out the Honors Study Abroad form via Kuali Forms at least four weeks before your departure.

Honors is visiting Costa Rica in Summer 2026! View the program brochure for more information. 

The service activity must be attached to a credit-bearing class at UMKC in order to count for Honors credits. Honors students are strongly encouraged to serve as an officer for HSA, work as an editor for Lucerna, volunteer at the Kauffman School, and many other service activities. Students can earn academic credit for these community engagement activities through the Honors Internship course (Honors 496 or 496A), or through a suitable internship course in their academic major, provided they meet the internship course requirements. Visit the Honors Beyond the Classroom web page for further information about the Honors Internship course requirements. 

A student may count up to six credits earned in Beyond the Classroom experiences toward the University Honors distinction. Your BTC Experience could be an internship, a clinical experience, student teaching, undergraduate research, or a community engagement project. The basic eligibility rule is that the student must earn academic credit for the experience in order for it to count toward the University Honors distinction. Non-credit experiences cannot be counted. A student may count the credits earned in different kinds of Beyond the Classroom experiences for a maximum of six credits toward their University Honors requirements. To claim these credits, complete the Beyond the Classroom Form, via Kuali Forms, and specify the course and experience you are completing. The form is due within the first four weeks of the semester. 

It depends – the internship must be tied to a course to receive Honors credit. If you are doing the internship outside of any coursework, then you may be able to receive credit by enrolling in Honors 496. If interested, check with Mariah about this first. 

Honors students who complete the required hours of Honors credit graduate with University Honors on their transcripts and diploma. They are awarded an Honors Medallion to wear at commencement. Students who complete the Honors Scholar and/or Honors Leader requirements will receive additional cords. 

Additionally, we have special Honors swag for students who complete certain requirements. Any student who completes at least 15 hours of Honors credit is eligible for a sweatshirt. We also have a "triple crown" pencil bag for students who choose to complete an Honors course, Honors contract, and Honors Discussion Group. To claim your swag items, stop by the Honors office (Cherry 424). 

The Honors Program has students from all schools across campus so it is certainly possible to graduate with University Honors no matter your major. Honors credit is earned concurrently with degree requirements so you don't need to worry about fitting extra classes into your schedule. Visit our page on how to earn Honors credit to learn more. Once admitted to Honors, you can also meet with the Student Services Director or an Honors Ambassador to create an individualized plan to fulfill the University Honors requirements. 

No. A student may graduate with University Honors without having completed a Senior Honors Thesis. For Honors students who want to go the extra mile and earn a valuable research credential, the Honors Scholar distinction is available through the completion of a Senior Honors Thesis. This additional distinction is strongly encouraged, but entirely optional for members of the Honors Program. View our Senior Honors Thesis page for more information. After reading over that information, please contact Dr. Levy.  

The Honors Scholar distinction requires an additional six credits of Honors thesis or project coursework beyond the credits required for the University Honors distinction. The Honors Scholar distinction is the highest recognition that any undergraduate can earn at UMKC. It is well worth the additional effort. View the Senior Honors Thesis page for more information, and you can contact Dr. Levy.  

No, although the project-related coursework must add up to six credits. Three credits of recommended Honors coursework (Honors 330, Honors 495, Honors 499) provide part of the suggested pathway toward fulfilling the Honors Scholar requirements. However, students are not required to enroll in these particular courses, provided they enroll in six credits of Honors thesis or project coursework. Many academic majors offer their students the option of enrolling in a senior capstone seminar or independent study that leads to the completion of a substantial written capstone research or creative project. a 
Honors students can use this coursework toward the Honors Scholar distinction, provided the capstone-related coursework totals at least six credits, and the student has submitted the required coursework to the Honors Program. 

By completing four one-credit hour courses from the Honors Leader curriculum focused on the four pillars of Honors. Visit our Honors Leader webpage for more information. 

No – you can take as many or as few as you want depending on your interests. To earn the Honors Leader distinction, all four must be completed.  

Our Current Students page has more information about the Honors Student Association and Lucerna, UMKC's only undergraduate research journal. 

The Honors LLC in Oak Street Hall fills up quickly. You must first apply and be admitted to the Honors Program. Once that happens and you’ve confirmed your acceptance, you can contact Res Life to find out if there is still room in the LLC.  

The Honors Program suggests you list the Honors Program on your resume as follows: 

• University Honors: 27 credit hours of Honors College coursework. Honors courses completed include: GECRT-SS H1xx, Biology H3xx, etc. [whatever you choose to highlight] 

• Honors Scholar: 27 credit hours of Honors College coursework and a Senior Honors Thesis entitled “The Title of Your Thesis Here” 
• Honors Leader: a series of courses designed to hone the skills needed to be an effective leader

Fill out the completion form on our webpage and have your instructor sign it. Then send it as a PDF to honors@umkc.edu. Completion forms are due by the Tuesday after finals.  

To request an extension, email honors@umkc.edu prior to the due date. Requests submitted in advance will be granted an immediate 48-hour extension with question, for any reason. If you need additional time, let us know. 

All extension requests must be received before the due date to be considered. Requests submitted after the due date will be denied. 

No, to submit a completion form we must have received the original contract form in the first four weeks of the semester.

All contract forms are due within the first four weeks of the semester. Ex: if the first day of class is August 21st, then all contracts are due by September 21st. Visit our Honors Contract page to view exact deadlines for Spring 2026. 

Yes, as long as you fill out the contract form and submit it within the first four weeks of the course start date. Summer contract completion forms are due the first Tuesday in August. Keep an eye on the newsletter for summer deadlines.  

1. Log into Plan My Degree
2. Click "Run Audit"
3. A list of your declared programs will appear – including "Honors Program". Click "Run Declared Programs"
4. An audit will appear for each program. Click "Honors Program" to open.
5. Click "Open all sections" to view the audit. 

Please remember that Honors credit for Discussion Groups are tied to the semester you took the related course, not the semester you took the Honors Discussion Group. If you find errors or missing Honors credit, please email Mariah Ramos, Student Services Director, during transcript hygiene in the first four weeks of the semester. 

Check Pathway for holds, schedule with your Assigned Academic Advisor first, and then schedule an appointment with our Student Services Director (Mariah) or one of the Honors Ambassadors through Connect.

Follow these steps to make an appointment:

1. If you want to discuss Honors coursework, be sure you've met with your assigned academic advisor first.
2. Login to UMKC Connect. Use your UMKC SSO and password to login.
3. Click the menu button (three lines) in the upper left corner, select "My Success Network"
4. Click on Honors Program Advisor, Mariah Ramos
5. Click "Schedule an Appointment"
6. Click the drop down to choose a reason for the appointment. Follow the prompts to finish scheduling your appointment – please fill out the description box with a little information about your appointment needs. 
   1. Mariah is available to discuss Honors requirements, majors and careers, graduate school readiness, involvement and leadership opportunities, academic and personal success and anything else that is on your mind!
7. Click "Confirm" to finish scheduling. You should get an email confirming the appointment. 
8. Mark your calendar and keep your appointment! Mariah's office is located in Cherry Hall rom 426. 

Ambassadors are available during their office hours for quick questions or just to say hi. For advising, an appointment is required. This provides time for Ambassadors to properly prepare. To make an appointment with an Honors Ambassador, follow the same steps as scheduling with Mariah above.

1. If you want to discuss Honors coursework, be sure you've met with your assigned academic advisor first. 
2. Login to UMKC Connect. Use your UMKC SSO and password to login.
3. Click the menu button (three lines) in the upper left corner, select "My Success Network"
4. Click on Honors Ambassador (if multiple listed, you can choose any)
5. Click "Schedule an Appointment"
6. Follow the prompts to finish scheduling your appointment – please fill out the description box with a little information about your appointment needs. 
7. Click "Confirm" to finish scheduling. You should get email confirmation of the appointment. 
8. Mark your calendar and keep your appointment! The Honors Ambassador office is located in Cherry Hall room 455. 

Contact our Student Services Director, Mariah Ramos, she is happy to assist.

Please note that Honors credit for contracts and discussion groups are not added automatically. Since it's a manual process involving several departments, it may take some time to appear on PlanMyDegree. We recommend waiting at least four weeks after grades are posted before reaching out about missing credit.

All general questions and questions related to paperwork should start with the Honors email address.  Anything about advising or audits should go to the Student Services Director. But don't worry, we will get you to the right place either way. 

Each semester we ask students to practice good transcript hygiene by running a new audit in PlanMyDegree and checking it to confirm all of their Honors credit is showing up correctly. This is done in the first four weeks of the semester. 

Many campus departments are in the process of switching to Kuali to streamline processes and ensure forms meet digital accessibility guidelines. PDFs are often not digitally accessible and can have technical issues. Switching to Kuali reduces lengthy email chains and broken signature boxes. Kuali also allows you to receive updates about the status of your form.

We now only accept Kuali forms for Beyond the Classroom and Study Abroad forms. In Spring 2026, Honors will accept both PDF and Kuali forms for contracts and completion forms. Starting in Summer 2026, only Kuali forms will be accepted for all Honors paperwork.

For Beyond the Classroom and Study Abroad credit, you will submit your form via Kuali, which will automatically go to Honors for processing. For Contracts and Completion Forms, you will submit the form via Kuali, and it will route to your instructor for their signature. Once the instructor has signed the form, it will go to Honors for processing. You will receive an email notification at each step.

We've updated the links on our existing webpages to go to Kuali forms instead of PDFs. Check out the pages for Beyond the Classroom, Contracts, Study Abroad, and Senior Honors Thesis.

In the upper right corner of the form page, click "Save". 

Later, you can find the draft on the Kuali website. Visit umkc.kualibuild.com and click "My Documents", or go directly to your Drafts folder. This is also where you can find your forms later. 

Visit umkc.kualibuild.com and click "My Documents." The "Submitted" tab will show you all the documents you've fully submitted and what step the form is on (in progress, complete, etc). The "Drafts" tab will show you the documents you've saved but haven't submitted. You can click on each form to see more information.

You will receive email confirmation at each step. These emails will come from UMKC Workflow Notifications (no-reply@workflow.umkc.edu), so check your spam and make sure you have not blocked the email address. Many UMKC departments are transitioning to these digital forms, so it is important that you are able to receive email notifications for the forms. The first email will be when the form is submitted by the student, to the instructor. There will be another email when the form has been signed by the instructor and has been sent to Honors for processing.

First, confirm that you've submitted the form by checking the "Submitted" tab in "My Documents." Then, ask your instructor to search for it in their email. The notification will come from UMKC Workflow Notifications (no-reply@workflow.umkc.edu), so they should check their spam folder and make sure the email address isn't blocked. 

Professors can also view the "Action List" on the Kuali website to see forms with active assigned task/approval. Note: If a professor has already signed the form, it will not show up in the Action List. 

Professors will also get regular email reminders for outstanding signatures, so if they accidentally deleted the first email, they will receive another one.

When your instructor has signed the form, you will get an automatic email notification that it's been routed to Honors for processing. The system will also send regular email reminders to your instructor about any outstanding signatures. It is your responsibility to communicate with your instructor about timely completion of the form. You are encouraged to follow up with your instructor as needed via email or during their scheduled student hours to ensure the form is submitted before the deadline.

Deadlines have not changed — contracts and Beyond the Classroom forms are due in the first four weeks of the semester and completion forms are due by the Tuesday after finals. Study Abroad forms are due at least two weeks before your departure.

Forms can be sent back to students by the Honors office or the instructor. Usually this means that required information is missing, but specifics should be included in the email notification. Follow the directions to update the form and resubmit it.

You can still request extensions by emailing the Honors Office before the form deadline. Then follow up with your instructor about the signature.

This is a manual process that goes through multiple departments. Please allow at least four weeks after grades post before reaching out about any missing credit. We will run a notice in the newsletter when transcript hygiene has started, indicating it's time for you to run a new audit and check your Honors credit.