“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)

A Question of Honor . . .

Theologian Frederick Buechner observed that “the place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Few things excite us more at Dallas Baptist University than helping students cultivate an expansive, holistic Christian vision of life and culture that prepares them to think, live, and serve throughout the world.

The University Honors Program exists to help some of our brightest and most gifted students discover the extent of their own abilities and callings. We want to help equip you for a life of significant service for the Kingdom of God, and we want you to experience the pleasure of God in doing your best for his purposes. Participation in our course of study offers you a rich thought world, a rich aesthetic experience, and a rich concern for this world’s need. We challenge you to understand the broad sociological, economic, and philosophical forces that drive our civilization, and we offer a deeply biblical understanding that offers practical, real world answers.

Our program with its interdisciplinary core is designed to help you make connections across your classes and to encourage in you a high level of critical thinking. One of the ways this is accomplished is through learning to understand the historical and socio-cultural context of the ideas that you encounter. When you understand where an idea comes from you are better equipped to speak to it from a Christian perspective. We also encourage you to see more deeply into the foundations of each subject, helping you to engage your studies as part of the Great Conversation.

A Question of Community . . .

Our interactive, discussion-based courses are taught by some of Dallas Baptist’s most outstanding faculty. Our classes are smaller than the University's already attractive faculty-student ratio, and we encourage faculty that teach in the University Honors Program to build close relationships with honors students. Holistic learning involves more than just the classroom experience because learning is never just an individual affair.

We partner with the Paedeia College Society to offer an annual fall study retreat, as well as an annual spring conference. Guest lectures by noted Christian scholars, a weekly worldview symposium, and involvement in local cultural events are other important ways that Dallas Baptist strives to build a strong learning community of faculty and students, as well as provide opportunities to build friendships.

A Question of Preparation . . .

Our program’s course of study includes a senior thesis or project in your major designed to help expand your analytical, imaginative, and technical understanding. Each thesis or project is supervised by a faculty mentor who gives you one-on-one attention and encouragement. Your senior thesis helps you to see the big picture because true learning continues across your courses and college career on into your future callings and vocations.

In addition, students in the University Honors Program participate in enrichment events and complete an enrichment event portfolio that serves as a useful tool when interviewing for a job, when applying for graduate school, or when venturing into the public sector.

The University Honors Program also helps students prepare for graduate school, as well as other positions of cultural influence. In addition, successful completion of the program carries with it recognition at graduation, on your transcript, and in future interviews.

In the last analysis, however, the University Honors Program is concerned with more than conferring honor on our gifted students. We are about developing the whole person for a life of honoring others in the name of Jesus Christ, and this calls for a consideration of the whole person—a mind sharpened and equipped to its uttermost; emotions given over to what is true, good, and beautiful; hands that act out of true worship and a spirit of service; a worldview that is centered in a biblical life and thought and deeply influenced by Christian tradition.

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Honors Program Information

Honors Faculty
Honors Perspectives Courses

Honors Enrichment

Frequently Asked Questions
Honors Application

Honors Program Information

 Honors Faculty
Honors Perspectives Courses

Honors Enrichment

Frequently Asked Questions
Honors Application (Download PDF)
Recommendation Form (Download PDF)

Admission to the Honors Program

For incoming freshmen, a minimum SAT score of 1150 or an ACT score of 25 and two high school faculty recommendations are required for admission to the Honors Program. For returning students to DBU, a 3.5 overall GPA at DBU and two faculty recommendations are required for admission to the program. Transfer students must have at least twelve hours of credit at DBU with a minimum DBU GPA of 3.5 and two faculty recommendations for admission to the program. Transfer students who were members of an academic organization such as Phi Beta Kappa at their previous institution may apply for first-semester acceptance. No student with more than 70 hours may be admitted to the Honors Program.

To be recognized as an Honors Program graduate at DBU, a student must have successfully completed a minimum of 30 hours in honors classes including a minimum of at least 18 hours in the Honors core. Honors Program core components include four Perspectives classes, an Honors section of Developing A Christian Mind, and the Senior Thesis or Project. The student must also regularly enroll in Honors Enrichment and complete an enrichment event portfolio before completing the Senior Thesis or Project. Honors Program students may take as many honors courses as they would like but no more than three honors courses per semester.

Contact

For more information, contact

Dr. Philip Mitchell at 1/214-333-5526 or email him at philipm@dbu.edu.