Graduating with Honors in Public Health

The Honors Program awards Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude) to qualified undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences who have successfully written and defended an honors thesis. Students can undertake a thesis project within their major (Departmental Honors) or choose an interdisciplinary option (General Honors).

To do an honors thesis within Public Health, you first need to meet these criteria:

  • Have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 in all courses
  • Have a GPA within courses for the Public Health major of 3.5
  • Have declared the Public Health major prior to applying for the Public Health Honors Program

Before deciding whether to do an honors thesis or not, please read about the requirements for an honors thesis within the College of Arts and Sciences here: /honors/graduation

Make sure to read through the full information on the following web pages:

You will then need to identify a project you would like to do for your thesis and assemble a thesis committee. The thesis committee needs to have a primary thesis advisor who agrees to oversee your project that you have identified. This primary advisor does not have to be a faculty member of the Affiliate Faculty within the Public Health Program. You need a secondary reader of your thesis who is from a different department than the primary advisor. You will also have to have one of the Honors Representatives for the Honors Thesis within Public Health on your committee. The current Honors Representatives for the Honors Thesis within Public Health are Colleen Reid (Colleen.Reid@colorado.edu) and XXX XXX (XXX.XXX@colorado.edu).

You will have to submit an application before the start of the Fall Semester of 2025 with the following information:

  • The list of the members of your committee who have agreed to support your honors thesis
  • A brief description of your proposed topic (1-2 paragraphs)
  • A proposed timeline for how you will complete the thesis on time. Information on deadlines for honors theses can be found here: /honors/sites/default/files/2024-10/Spring%202026%20Thesis%20Deadlines.pdf听[You should assume similar dates for future semesters, but some of those may already be posted here: /honors/graduation ].

Students doing an honors thesis in Public Health must enroll in PBHL 4342: Public Health Capstone: Honors Thesis in the Fall of the academic year during which they will complete their thesis. This means that if you plan to finish your thesis in the Fall of 2025 or the Spring of 2026, you would take PBHL 4342 in Fall of 2025.听