Enhance your College of Liberal Arts Experience in the Oregon State University Honors College
An honors degree that opens doors across discipline
CLA students choose the honors pathway to set themselves apart. Honors coursework strengthens critical thinking, communication, and leadership — skills that employers and graduate programs consistently seek. Through research, internships, global experiences, and creative work, CLA honors students graduate with a portfolio that demonstrates excellence.
With the support of the Honors College, students chart individualized pathways that prepare them for meaningful careers and advanced study.
Meet CLA honors students and see where their pathways have taken them
The Oregon State University Honors College can take your College of Liberal Arts experience to another level. With a diverse set of highly engaged classes, the opportunity to explore your own original project and a wide array of co-curricular and extracurricular programs, the Honors College helps you build skills, connections and confidence.
In the Honors College, you can:
- Take unique honors courses on diverse topics with deep collaboration.
- Build your community through faculty mentorship and honors events.
- Complete an honors thesis that showcases your creativity, originality and research skills.
- Graduate with an Honors Baccalaureate Degree — Oregon State University’s highest undergraduate distinction.
The deadline to apply to the Honors College is Feb 1, but you can apply today! Visit your Beaver Basecamp portal and fill out the Honors College application form. You can also learn more about what the Honors College offers and send questions to [email protected].
The honors thesis is an opportunity to develop an original project in an area you are passionate about.
Recent thesis topics completed by College of Liberal Arts Honors College graduates:
- Mary Driskell — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2022, thesis topic: Shakespeare Summary Podcasts For Students By Student
- Aubreyanna Olsen — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2024, thesis topic: How Racial and Linguistic Identities Inform a Study Abroad Experience for U.S. American-Latinx Students Studying Abroad in Barcelona, Spain
- Kendrea Beers — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2021, thesis topic: Embodied Wisdom in Mahāyāna Buddhism and Orthodox Christianity
- Sophia Fischer — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2024, thesis topic: All Work and No Play: Student Employment, Stress, and Coping
- Matthew Easdale — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2021, thesis topic: Good Internet Would be Pretty Cool: A Policy Proposal to Expand Internet Access
- Casey Ward — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2022, thesis topic: A Historically Authentic Digital Recreation of Holocaust Survivor Henry Friedman’s Hiding Place and More Scenes from World War II
- Caleb Anderson — Honors College and College of Liberal Arts Class of 2023, thesis topic: Peace Literacy Skills for Better Dialogue in Science
The thesis can involve research, creative or artistic work, service and more. Whatever your goals and passions, the thesis will put you in a position to take them to the next level.
Alumni Highlight
Grace used her honors thesis as an opportunity to explore the contributions of Oregon women beyond the home front, utilizing archival materials to understand their wartime service and the challenges they faced. This research culminated in a collaboration with the Corvallis Museum for an exhibit from November 2023 — March 2024.
“The Honors College directly laid the path for where I am now. As a first-year student, I applied for a student job as a videographer at the HC. The next year, I became an ambassador and media assistant overseeing the HC's Instagram and TikTok, giving me valuable career experience and connections on campus. My HC student internship at Special Collections and Archives Research Center gave me the opportunity to practice archival work, inspiring my current graduate school path, while my HC thesis allowed me the experience to engage in and publish historical research, inspiring my future academic plans. Finally, my connections at SCARC, thanks to my initial HC internship and my research experience, landed me my job with the OSU Foundation!”
Grace Knutsen, '24, History, German and French
