Summer Honors Program

  • Students in the Summer Honors Program share a laugh as they work together on an experiment in a lab

  • The Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has directed all universities within the system to cancel all summer camps and conferences. With this directive, an abundance of caution, and an equal amount of regret, we announce the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Honors Program at IUP.  Thank you so much for your interest in this summer enrichment experience.  We encourage all rising high school sophomores and juniors who expressed interest this year to apply again for SHP in 2021!

    Cook Honors College hosts IUP’s Summer Honors Program (SHP), where talented rising high school juniors and seniors get a first-hand look at life on campus. It’s a unique opportunity to explore college classes. You’ll make new friends, learn more about higher education, and feel a connection with other scholars.

    The living-learning environment in our residence hall will bring you together with students from across the country, giving you a sense of what your first year of college will be like. Our peer counselors will be there with you to share their experience in single-gender wings of Whitmyre Hall.

    Attend classes that are dynamic, motivating, and interactive. Sessions are taught by experienced IUP faculty who will guide your explorations and give you a sense of what college will be like.

  • Half of your day will be spent in the interdisciplinary Honors Core Course.

    All students will tackle some of the most basic and debated questions of human existence, such as “How do we discern the good from the bad?” or “What do we know? What do we believe? Is there a difference?” in the Interdisciplinary Honors Core Course. Working with professors from literature, philosophy, history, biology, and the fine arts provides a unique opportunity for a synthesis of ideas. You will be challenged to develop critical thinking skills through the analysis of great scholars’ arguments, group discussions, writing, and group presentations.

    The other half of your day will immerse you in the field you find most exciting.

    Choose from Discipline-based Courses such as:

    • Anthropology
    • Biochemistry
    • Business
    • Chemistry
    • English
    • Electro-optics
    • Mathematics
    • Political Communication
    • Psychology
    • World War II in America

    You will find there is more to student life than going to class. Check out the planetarium, the music hall, library, local pizza places, and coffee shops. Plus, find out about campus clubs and organizations. This is your chance to explore the university and town of Indiana in a fun and supportive setting.

    Even if IUP is not the right college for you, SHP will help distinguish you as a student who pursued a college experience while still in high school.

    Please send me more information about the Summer Honors Program.

  • Room and Board
    Students will live on campus in single gender wings of IUP’s Whitmyre Hall, home of the Cook Honors College.
    Summer Honors Program Student Nomination Form
    High school teachers may use this form below to recommend a student for the Cook Honors College Summer Honors Program.
    Teacher Evaluation Form
  • Cook Honors College
  • Whitmyre Hall, Room 136
    290 Pratt Drive
    Indiana, PA 15705
  • Phone: 724-357-4971
  • Toll-Free: 800-487-9122
  • Fax: 724-357-3906
  • Office Hours
  • Monday through Friday
  • 9:00 a.m.–Noon
  • 1:00–4:30 p.m.