International Honors (IHON) Program

PLU’s International Honors Program (IHON) is a unique honors program that focuses not on teaching you about things, but instead on cultivating your ability to learn, think for yourself, and express yourself.

In IHON, you’ll study and consider perspectives from various pasts about crucial questions of human life: What is a human? How should human animals relate to nature, including other animals? For what should we live? Do we ‘know’ what we see? Does the universe have a purpose? Does human history have a direction? What is ‘home’?

IHON is also an alternate way to satisfy your general education requirements at PLU. Instead of taking classes offered by specific academic departments, you’ll take courses designed just for IHON, around problems or questions, using diverse methods and ways of thinking.

IHON is for any student in any major – you don’t need to have taken honors classes in high school to be successful in IHON! As long as you have the commitment to work hard, read a lot, and grow intellectually, IHON is for you!

From deep discussions, to enthralling readings, to an emphasis on curiosity, IHON is a very special program that will take your academic journey to the next level. I love that IHON is never boring, and conversations in class would always make me reconsider what I thought I knew about the world.

Vivian S. '22

APPLYING TO IHON

The IHON application includes a brief form, two short essays, and short answer component.

Priority Application Date: February 1, 2025
Apply by the February 15 priority date to guarantee that your application to IHON is in the first round of decisions.

Regular Application Date: April 1, 2025
Apply by April 1 to guarantee that you get your IHON decision in plenty of time before the May 1 National College Decision Date.

Final Priority Application Date: June 15, 2025
Apply by June 15 to ensure you get your IHON decision before fall class registration dates in July.

You can still apply to IHON after the application dates!

STUDY IN OXFORD

Interested in studying in Oxford? Check out this IHON opportunity!

IHON FACULTY

Meet the professors who teach in the IHON program.

GLOBAL HALL

IHON students have the option to live in the IHON wing of the Kreidler Global Community.