All the campus honors programs in the Penn State system operate under the auspices of the Schreyer Honors College (SHC) at University Park, one of the best honors colleges in the United States. Although the Altoona Honors Program shares many academic standards with the SHC and is a member of the Penn State Honors Consortium, SHC and Altoona Honors are distinct.
Students in the SHC—known as Schreyer Scholars—may enroll at any Penn State location, including Altoona. If Schreyer Scholars stay at Altoona for only their first two years, then they can use the curricular offerings of the Altoona Honors Program to fulfill their SHC requirements.
Schreyer Scholars can also stay at Altoona for all four years should they decide to enroll in a degree offered at Penn State Altoona. In addition to the curricular offerings, Altoona makes it possible for the Schreyer Scholar to choose an adviser and to do an Honors Thesis in their fourth year. Information about the Honors Thesis can be found on the Honors Thesis page of the Schreyer Honors College site.
You can apply to Schreyer Honors College at several stages of your college career:
- To apply to SHC at the same time that you are applying for admission to Penn State as a first-year student, click on the Application Process page of the Schreyer Honors College site
- For all other current students, Schreyer has a CurrentStudent Application process. The application is available on the Apply as a Current Student page of the Schreyer Honors College site.