2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
The Honors College seeks to inspire and facilitate an extraordinary undergraduate education for a diverse student body of exceptional motivation. Utilizing a flexible curricular framework with a strategic array of experiences, opportunities, and facilities, the College pioneers progressive, innovative approaches to undergraduate education that can be scaled up across the university.
First-year and transfer applicants indicate their interest in the Honors College on their Coalition application, which prompts further review by the Honors College. Rather than establishing a numerical minimum for GPA and test scores, the Honors College looks holistically at a first-year applicant's overall academic record and experiences. We value quality of engagement (rather than sheer quantity), self-awareness, reflection on involvement, and authenticity.
Transfer students are similarly considered, but they must have a cumulative GPA of 3.40 or better at their previous institution to be eligible for review.
Currently enrolled Virginia Tech students may apply to the Honors College at the end of each spring semester provided they have achieved a 3.40 or better cumulative GPA and have at least four (4) semesters remaining at Virginia Tech before they graduate.
Virginia Tech Honors College students must complete all Honors Academic Requirements to earn an Honors Laureate Diploma or complete the Honors Minor. Honors Academic Requirements were updated for students entering the Honors College in Fall 2023 or later. Cohort-specific requirements are below:
For students who entered the Honors College in Fall 2023 or later
Every Honors Laureate Program student or every student pursuing the Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery must meet four Honors Academic Requirements in total, two of which must be met by the end of two traditional, consecutive semesters in Honors:
For students who entered the Honors College in Spring 2023 or earlier
Every Honors Laureate Program student or every student pursuing the Honors Minor in Transdisciplinary Praxis must meet four Honors Academic Requirements in total, two of which must be met by the end of two traditional, consecutive semesters in Honors:
The Honors College offers its own, optional academic minor. Students who enter the Honors College in Fall 2023 or later have access to the Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery. All students in earlier cohorts have access to the original version of the minor: the Honors Minor in Transdisciplinary Praxis.
Pursuing the Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery will both help you stand out from the crowd and prepare you for “what’s next.” By completing the Honors Minor, you will:
Honors Academic Requirements apply to students whether they pursue the Honors Laureate Diploma or the Honors Minor. For more information about the Minor, visit the Honors Minor page of our website.
The Honors Collaborative Discovery Diploma (HCDD) is limited to students in 14 participating programs that span engineering, science, business, design arts, humanities, and policy. Only students in the 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 graduating classes may receive the HCDD in this four-year pilot program. The Calhoun Honors Discovery Program is at capacity with 140 students. Visit the website for more information: https://honorscollege.vt.edu/chdp.html.
The Calhoun Honors Discovery Program (CHDP) combines a structured disciplinary education with an open-ended, collaborative, and transdisciplinary discovery process. Students collaborate with one another across disciplines, as well as work alongside our faculty, industry, and non-profit partners. After four years of learning the process of discovery, innovation, and problem-solving, students will be prepared to face the real world. Under this new learning platform, students will graduate from Virginia Tech with the skills and knowledge needed to lead collaborative sociotechnical innovation and live out our motto Ut Prosim, “That I May Serve.”
The Honors Peer Advising Center enables honors students to meet individually with trained Honors Peer Advisors to talk through processes and resources to answer Honors-related questions. The honors staff also welcomes student appointments and walk-in visits. Each staff member has a distinct specialization with which they can assist students. Furthermore, advising for major national and international scholarships is available through the Honors College for all Virginia Tech students.
Honors College students have two Honors community options: the Hillcrest Honors living–learning community houses about 100 students in Hillcrest Hall and the Honors Residential Commons houses about 320 students in East Ambler Johnston Hall. Both communities are multigenerational and multidisciplinary, housing first-year students to fifth-year seniors from all seven colleges at Virginia Tech.
Honors students are not required to live in an Honors living–learning program. Many students live off-campus or in other living-learning programs.
Dean: Rebecca Bott-Knutson
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Paul Heilker2,4,7
Associate Dean for Finance and Administration: Lefter Daku
Associate Dean for Academic Operations: Sara Vandyke
Director of Professional Development, National and International Scholarships: Christina McIntyre
Director of Admissions and Scholarships: Russell Shrader
Director of Instructional Technology and Spaces: Neal Henshaw
Honors Laureate Program Coordinator: Mary Helm
Business Office Coordinator: Eni Gosselin
Administrative Assistant: Ashlee Cox
Communications Specialist: Erin Deitzel
Collegiate Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences: Anne-Lise Velez
Collegiate Associate Professor: Stephanie Lewis
Collegiate Assistant Professor: Rachael Budowle
Collegiate Assistant Professor: Anne Patrick
Honors Faculty in Information Technology & Decision Sciences: Michael Kretser
Professor of Practice in Collaborative Discovery and Design: Enric Ruiz-Geli
Professor of Practice in Collaborative Discovery: Kevin Jones
Print this page.
The PDF will include all information unique to this page.