About Us

The Honors College at Rutgers-Camden is a community of student and faculty scholars who participate in a challenging academic program that includes honors seminars, junior and senior year projects, and extracurricular activities. Selection into this program is very competitive; approximately 90 new students are enrolled into The Honors College each year.

The Honors College at Rutgers-Camden provides unique opportunities and support to its students. As an Honors College student, your academic career will be enhanced by personal access to professors as well as intellectual and social contact with other outstanding students. You will also benefit from extensive, individualized advising about academic programs at Rutgers, graduate or professional school plans, and major undergraduate and graduate fellowships and scholarships (e.g. Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Mellon, Goldwater, National Science Foundation). The honors seminars, small interdisciplinary classes taught by internationally known faculty, help sharpen your intellectual skills and prepare you for independent study and research projects during your junior and senior years. These projects provide a significant advantage when you apply to the nation’s most prestigious and competitive graduate, law, and business schools.

To graduate with General Honors in the Honors College, a student must achieve a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 at the time of graduation; complete three honors seminars during the first two years; and complete a junior and senior project. You will have a wide selection of possibilities from which to choose your special projects. For a complete list of the four year requirements, click here.

As an Honors College student at Rutgers-Camden, you will work with professors who are among the leading experts in their fields. The honors seminars, which are selected from proposals submitted by Rutgers faculty, include information that will appear in tomorrow’s textbooks, which gives you a distinct competitive advantage. The Honors College offers approximately 16 seminars each year. For a complete list of our past seminars visit our Seminars Page.

The honors seminars involve weekly reading assignments and extensive classroom discussion. Since enrollment in each seminar is limited to between 10 and 15 students, you will receive more extensive and personal attention than is possible in most college courses. Students often meet in an informal setting where ideas are discussed around the table in a comfortable classroom. Written work often takes the form of essays and papers rather than exams. Honors faculty encourages their students to take advantage of the extensive research opportunities available on the internet.

Recent seminar offerings include Friday Night Lights and a League of Their Own: Sports in American Popular Culture, Archaic Greece, Passion in Poetry, Prose, and Play, Search for Genius in Music, Can One Hear the Shape of a Drum, and Approaches to Leadership, The Graphic Novel, and the Informed Critic. The most prestigious faculty members on campus participate in the program. Many of the professors who participate in the Honors College have won Rutgers’ top teaching awards and all have published widely in their disciplines.

Besides the seminars, what other educational experiences does The Honors College offer?

In addition to the classroom experience, the Honors College supports a wide variety of activities outside the classroom. Films, guest lecturers, visits to museums and other cultural events are often incorporated into the course curriculum. Many of our educational activities also have a social component. Trips to cultural centers such as Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D. C., include visits to art museums and historical centers, or perhaps an architectural tour, followed by a meal at a special restaurant. Tickets to many Rutgers music, theatre and dance performances are also available to honors students on a first-come first-served basis. In addition, the Tweeter Center on the Camden Waterfront provides tickets for certain concert events.

An active and vibrant Honors Student Organization (HSO) is a campus leader in student activities. The HSO is also actively involved in community service initiatives, and has sponsored trips to the Philadelphia Zoo, the Art Museum, and Philadelphia basketball, baseball, and soccer games. The HSO has its own publication, The Pinnacle, which reviews campus and student life.

Honors students have reserved floors within the residence hall, where they share their ideas and studies with students who have similar interests. The floors have special study rooms with computer and network access, as well as a modern seminar room for guest lecturers and discussions. Each year, approximately one-third of the entering honors students take advantage of this unique opportunity. Honors students also have an exclusive study and meeting room in the Paul Robeson Library.

How will the program affect my chances of getting in medical, law, or graduate school?

The best graduate schools look for students who have been trained in systematic thinking, who posses excellent writing skills, and whose academic transcripts show coherent yet diverse course selection and academic specialization during the undergraduate years. These are the qualities that The Honors College at Rutgers-Camden develops and promotes in its students.

Dynamic students who are inquisitive, energetic, and highly motivated will benefit from The Honors College at Rutgers-Camden. While strong SAT scores and high school performance are necessary for consideration, such quantitative measures do not guarantee admission to the program. Admission to The Honors College is extremely competitive; only a small portion of the freshman class is considered for admission each year. In addition, both transfer students (particularly Phi Theta Kappa members) and currently enrolled Rutgers-Camden students may be admitted to the Honors College should they meet the requisite standards of excellence.

First-year students are automatically evaluated during the admissions process; no separate application is required. Transfer Students and currently enrolled Rutgers-Camden students must complete an application to the Honors College which is available in the Honors College offices.

Merit awards for incoming first-year students are awarded by the University through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. All admitted students who apply for admission by our priority deadline of December 15 are automatically considered for both University and Rutgers-Camden merit awards. Separate application forms are not required.

Students transferring to Rutgers-Camden from a New Jersey county/community college after earning their associate’s degree may apply for the Francis B. and Paige D. L’Hommedieu County College Scholarships. Transfer students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa and have earned their associate’s degree may also be considered for the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society Scholarships. The James Dickson Carr Scholarships are available to selected transfer students attending the Camden Campus.

All students who file the FAFSA will be considered for the full range of federal, state and university need-based aid programs. Students should apply for financial aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Our federal school code number is 002629. Our preferred filing date is March 15th, but late applications are considered on a rolling basis. Scholarships, whether given by Rutgers or an outside organization, are considered as part of your overall financial aid package. In general, we try and use scholarship aid to reduce your unmet need and federal loans. For most students, the receipt of scholarships does not impact your Pell Grant or New Jersey state grant eligibility. For more information, please visit the financial aid web site at www.studentaid.rutgers.edu, or call the Financial Aid Office @ 856-225-6039. You can contact us via email at finaid@camden.rutgers.edu. Students and families who wish to speak with an aid officer are encouraged to make an appointment in advance.

Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
406 Penn Street
Camden, New Jersey 08102-1499
(856) 225-6104
or e-mail at camden@ugadm.rutgers.edu