The Daytona Beach Honors Program is highly selective, offering its student members enriched educational opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Emphasizing Honors coursework in General Education and in the majors, as well as hands-on involvement in the local community, the program involves selected faculty who develop innovative courses and establish mentoring relationships with students. The program enrolls top students who are committed to positive, tangible change, while developing their communicative, analytical, research and problem-solving skills, nurturing a love of lifelong learning, leadership and service. Our commitment is to the education and health/welfare of the whole person and, by extension, to the health/welfare of others.

Perks and Benefits

In addition to the enrichment, distinction and competitive edge associated with the Daytona Beach Honors Program, there are many other additional opportunities.
Honors students are encouraged to attend the “Honors Library Series”, sponsored and arranged by the Honors Program, open to the entire University community offered 2-3 times per semester.

Students in the Honors Program have access to the Honors Center and all the resources available within it. Students are able to study in the collaborative learning spaces and computer lab, relax on the chairs and couches, and socialize with their Honors peers.

During their freshman year, Honors Program students are housed together in a University residence hall. Living in this community of scholars proves to be an enriching opportunity for students to make lifelong friendships with individuals who help them succeed in and out of the classroom.

The Honors Program is developing a collection of books available only to students in the Honors Program. Started in 2004, this collection will be added to annually.
Honors Program students are ensured enrollment in three Honors seminar courses.
The Honors Program sponsors a series of lectures and performances presented by people of national and international reputation. Information about the current year's program will be updated in the Honors Series section below.

The Honors Student Association (HSA) strengthens the Honors students' sense of community and organization through its commitment to social activities and service. The student officers also serve to communicate student ideas, concerns and suggestions to the Honors Program director. All students in the Honors Program are eligible to become members of the HSA.


The Honors Program serves others and contributes to the local and global community through a variety of student-led initiatives, including:

  • ERAU Honors Community Garden: Established in 2019 in partnership with Halifax Urban Ministries’ Barracks of Hope (HUM)
  • S.T.E.A.M. Camp and Tutoring at Derbyshire: Weekly tutoring and K–12 outreach within the local community
  • Plastic-Free Campus Initiative: A student organization working to eliminate single-use plastics from the Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach campus
  • Pure Water Project: Designs, constructs, tests, and installs four-stage, solar-powered water purification systems in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

The Honors Program also supports community building through a student-run book club that reads up to two books per term, an annual peer-reviewed sustainability conference, and an annual student showcase. New student initiatives are encouraged and supported. Students interested in starting a new initiative are encouraged to contact Dr. Jeff Brown or Dr. Amy Williams.

The Honors Program focuses on building community among its members by providing social activities such as an ice cream social to kick off the year, a Thanksgiving dinner for students remaining on campus and the spring semester Eco-Adventures, transporting students to a Florida location known for its natural beauty and environmental interest. The Honors Student Association (HSA) also emphasizes community building and sponsors a number of social events throughout the year, including an Honors Formal and a trip to Kennedy Space Center.


Honors Program students receive Honors notations on the transcript and diploma, as well as recognition at commencement.

Honors Program students are allowed to register for classes prior to normal pre-registration dates.

Admission to the Daytona Beach Honors Program

Academically talented students applying to Embry‑Riddle who meet the Honors Program's stringent SAT or ACT requirements and CGPA in high school core courses are identified first by the Embry-Riddle Admissions Office and invited to apply for admission to Honors. Applicants are then screened via such additional factors as breadth of personal interests, leadership and service qualifications, strong teacher/counselor recommendations and a personal essay. A limited number are selected each year. Exceptional continuing and transfer students may be admitted as space allows and in consultation with the Honors Program director. 

Students who have received the following distinctions are especially encouraged to apply:

  • National Merit Scholarship Finalists or Semifinalists
  • National Achievement Finalists or Semifinalists
  • Valedictorians or Salutatorians of a regionally accredited high school
  • Graduates of International Baccalaureate Programs
  • Students with substantial Advanced Placement credit

All students must apply to be considered. Applicants admitted to the university by December 1 are eligible to apply. If space remains available, students admitted between December 2 and February 1 may be invited to apply. All criteria must be met for consideration.

Curriculum Requirements

The Daytona Beach Honors Program consists of at least 24-27 credit hours of Honors. These requirements are embedded in (not added to) the existing curriculum:
  • 12-13 credit hours applicable to General Education requirements
  • At least 12-14 credit hours within the student’s major

The Honors curriculum emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to education by requiring students to enroll in three three-credit hour seminars (nine credit hours total) that encourages a global perspective and places disciplines in dialogue.

The seminars are capped at 24 students (all members of the Honors program), are discussion based and focus on developing students’ communicative, critical, research and leadership skills, and require text and web-based original research, written essays and oral presentations.

The Honors Seminars are unique courses, created specifically for the Honors Program. Students may experience courses such as these:

  • The Science of Stories
  • Disruptive Technologies
  • Regeneration or Degeneration: The Scales Weighted for Our Future
  • Archaeologies of the Future: Science and Science Fiction
  • Science and Society: The Ethics of Sustainability (this can replace the “Ethics of Sustainability” course already listed)
  • Cold War Paranoia and Products
  • Video Game Topography: Investigating Games With a Sense of Place
  • Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Tweaking the System: The Transnational Economy
  • Colonialism and Globalization
  • Nationalism in the Middle East and Africa
  • The Culture of Computing
  • The Nature of Creativity
  • Chaos and Design
  • Vietnam in World History
  • The Arts of Persuasion
  • From Humanism to Transhumanism 
  • American War Drums and Persistent Echoes
  • Ancient and Modern Conceptions of the Hero
  • The Cold War
  • Experiences of the “Other” in American Culture
  • U.S. Diplomacy in a Troubled World
  • Structure and Expression of American Government: Current Issues
  • Politics and the Fear of Science
  • Globalization and Fundamentalism
  • Climate Change
  • Good Government
  • The Future
  • Ironies of Control
  • The Silk Road
  • The Ethics of Sustainability
  • The Holocaust
  • Water
  • The Nature of Consciousness
  • Social Media
  • The American Melting Pot

In lieu of the third Honors seminar, students may select an independent study or travel abroad option, the specifics of which are subject to approval by the Honors director.

Individual degree programs establish, in coordination with Honors Program administration, the appropriate Honors experience in the major. A degree program may designate sections of particular upper-level (300-400 level) courses within the majors as “Honors” when there is a sufficient number of Honors students within the major to support them. Programs that enroll only a small number of Honors students identify specific courses or individual projects undertaken with a faculty mentor in order to satisfy the Honors experience. The Honors experience within the major may involve completion of an Honors senior thesis, senior project or senior portfolio.

Honors Program students often arrange individualized projects with faculty, in order to add depth to or to go somewhat outside the required curriculum. Here are a few examples of some actual Honors contract experiences:
  • Nicole Kufa, with Dr. Richard Snow: WX 299, WX 399 — Research about lightning patterns as indicators of potential tornado development within thunderstorm cells. Research led to co-presentation of “Lightning: Meteorology’s New Tool,” at the American Meteorological Society meeting.
  • Jefferson McMillan, with Professor Glenn Harmon: AS 354 — Research into the validation of FAR 91.211 requiring use of oxygen for crewmembers after 30 minutes between altitudes of 12,500 and 14,000 feet. Faculty from various departments were involved in this time-intensive study. The findings were submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration.
  • Michael Nayak, with Dr. Hamilton Hagar: AE 699 — Student completed a one-on-one graduate-level independent research into low-energy trajectory planning using chaos theory and the “Interplanetary Superhighway” concept and produced a 180-page thesis-level report. This project led him to the Jet Propulsion Lab, where he worked with leading scientists in this field.
  • Zoe Cunningham, with Professor Greg Zahornacky: AS 472 — Student gave a class presentation on sexism in the workplace, specifically in the aviation field and at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University.
  • Mariah Law, with Dr. Ted von Hippel: PS 399 — Student developed a new approach to studying exoplanetary atmosphere by creating artificial neural networks that have the capability to classify exoplanets using pre-existing models of exoplanet spectra, leading to a manuscript for publication.
  • Patrick Metzger, with Dr. Frederick Mosher: WX 270 — Student built a 19th century Weather Bureau Meteograph and used it to gather data in various locations. The instrument responded to atmospheric changes with enough accuracy to be deemed functional. The Weather Kite was able to become airborne and carry the meteograph for short periods of time.


Honors Series Events

Check back for future honors series events. All events are at 7:30 p.m. in the Willie Miller Instructional Center Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public, all students, staff, faculty and administration.
The Honors Program allowed me to dive into different topics while still at college, often going into subjects that would not be normally covered at a technical college. It allowed me to gain a wider view of how the world works and has given me experience with writing papers on a variety of subjects." Rachel Keisling, Aeronautical Science

Student Research

Many students participate in research through Honors contracts. Honors contracts allow students to go above and beyond the typical curriculum for a course and explore a variety of topics with faculty mentors.

Many students are actively involved in research with faculty in various fields. We also support students seeking research opportunities through our Honors Interdisciplinary Research Opportunities Initiative. Many honors students have receive funding through the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR).

Ongoing Honors Research Projects, Student Engagement, and Community Partnerships

Descriptions of some of the projects, organizations, or community initiatives in which our Honors students have participated.

Project G.L.E.N. is a multi-disciplinary research project that represents an effort to transform the way tornadoes are studied and classified. By combining multiple disciplines, the Ground Level Environmental Navigator (G.L.E.N.) aims to collect real-time, on-site data from directly within tornadic systems. This data includes wind speed profiles, pressure differentials, temperature changes, and more, all while removing the human risk factor commonly associated with storm chasing data collection. With these observations, they hope to provide crucial evidence to support reevaluating the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale toward a more data-driven classification system. Ongoing efforts include CAD modeling, refining data collection methods, securing funding, and starting manufacturing on a V1 model. For the future, the group plans to continue enhancing the probe, collaborate with professional storm chasers to ensure safe deployment, and explore variations beyond tornado research for the G.L.E.N. probe.

Various students in Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s Honors Program have worked all year long to feed people experiencing hunger and disenfranchisement throughout the local community, through a partnership with Barracks of Hope, a nonprofit near the Daytona Beach Campus. Students have volunteered time to plant and grow fresh vegetables with no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and assist a master gardener to manage the plants from seed to table.

In addition to the Community Garden partnership, Honors Program students have committed many volunteer hours as afterschool tutors at Hope Place; have become mainstays of the STEAM Camp program at Hope Place (providing fun, educational activities for children in the underserved community), have launched the STEAM Nights at Manatee Cove Elementary School and Discovery Elementary School (creating demonstrations and displays of a range of science-centered stations for the children and parents), and support various road and beach clean-ups.

The AIAA through the Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Design Engineering and Flight Test Technical Committees and the AIAA Foundation invite all university students to participate in the competition. The contest will provide a real-world aircraft design experience for engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies.

For the 2022 competition, student teams will design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft which can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.”

Numerous Honors Program students are involved each year in the Design Build Fly Competition.

Founded in 1992, The Embry‑Riddle Future Space Explorers and Developers Society is dedicated to providing hands-on experience in space exploration and related topics for students here at ERAU. While focused at our core on rocketry, ERFSEDS projects have branched into numerous research projects spanning a variety of aspects within the Aerospace Industry. The club also previously held the world record for highest altitude university vehicle with project Icarus, which launched in 2007 and achieved an altitude of 37.8 miles.

For more information, please visit .

Past Research

This project is a Vertical Air Lifted High Altitude Light Launch Apparatus (VALHALLA) aimed at assisting collegiate level rockets in reaching higher altitudes by providing a launch platform that will allow them to be launched from 100,000 ft. This would enable collegiate researchers to not only launch their rockets from an altitude that passes 90 percent of earth's dense atmosphere but would also facilitate the opportunity for research at this altitude and beyond. The goal is to make VALHALLA completely reusable, creating an economical option for collegiate researchers. As representatives of the Spaceflight Sciences Policy and Operations Club (SSPOC) of Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, the team aims to provide an affordable launching platform that will enable universities to conduct research at higher altitudes.
Inflatable habitats are the next big thing in extra-planetary habitation, as they offer easier transportation, greater durability and greater versatility than other current methods. However, as of now, there is no method of creating a flat surface for astronauts to utilize these habitats while operating on planetary surfaces. Project Vestia aims to create a system capable of supporting everyday operations on the surface of the Moon and Mars. Project Vestia will design and construct three different structures that provide a flat, stable surface for astronauts to live on, while also being able to collapse with the habitat during transit. Project Vestia plans to then test these structures for both their weight-bearing capabilities as well as their ease of use during regular mission operations.

The through the Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Design Engineering and Flight Test Technical Committees and the AIAA Foundation invite all university students to participate in the . The contest provides a real-world aircraft design experience for engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies.

For the 2022 competition, student teams designed, fabricated and demonstrated the flight capabilities of an uncrewed, electric powered, radio-controlled aircraft which could best meet the specified mission profile. The goal was a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities, and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

Numerous Honors Program students are involved each year in the Design, Build, Fly Competition.


Founded in 1992, the is dedicated to providing hands-on experience in space exploration and related topics for students. While focused at our core on rocketry, ERFSEDS projects have branched into numerous research projects spanning a variety of aspects within the Aerospace Industry. The club also previously held the world record for highest altitude university vehicle with project Icarus, which launched in 2007 and achieved an altitude of 37.8 miles.

The Experimental Rocket Propulsion Lab (ERPL) conducts research in areas that will bring about a better understanding of the flight of hybrid motors. The goal of their project is to complete a research project centered on the variety of propellants used in hybrid motors. The findings will then be used by the Flight Hybrids Team for a flight-ready motor that will be much more effective than the motor currently being used.

The is a student organization at the Daytona Beach campus of Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. RAER is the parent organization of multiple student teams that compete in various competitions around the world. The Robotics Association competes in seven different international competitions, including the NASA Robotic Mining competition, NSF Cyber Physical Systems Challenge and five AUVSI Foundation competitions. The competitions all include a series of complex, dynamic events and require students to carefully document their work and present their designs to expert judges from industry and government.
Note: If you are part of a research project or organization that includes Honors Program students and would like your research displayed here, please contact Dr. Amy Williams.

Frequently Asked Questions

To be eligible, students must have between a 1360 and 1390 SAT (or 29 to 31 composite ACT), along with at least a 3.75 unweighted GPA. Additionally, students must be admitted to the University by Dec. 1. All of these criteria need to be met in order to be considered.


After you apply to Embry-Riddle, assuming you meet the baseline criteria for consideration, you will be invited to apply to the Honors Program. Once we have your application, it will be reviewed and a decision made. We have two sets of application considerations: one in late fall/winter, and another in early spring. You must observe the published application deadline.


There are numerous benefits to being in the Honors Program, both as an enhanced/enriched experience while here and because roughly the top 6-7% of incoming students is admitted to Honors, which places you in elite company. That gives you a leg up when it comes to internships, grad school or job applications as well, assuming you are doing or have done well while at the University.


All students, regardless of transfer credit, must sign up for HON 150. Please refer to these two links to navigate the registration process as an Honors Program student.

You do not have to take the Comp Eval, however, you might need to take the ALEKS assessment if you are trying to place into Calculus 1. Please note that the ALEKS assessment only places up to Calculus 1. If you are bringing in Calc AB and/or BC credit, you will not necessarily need to take the ALEKS exam. Please speak with your program advisor (listed in your Student Center) for more details and help with non-Honors course requirements.

As indicated in the links provided, AE, ME and CIV students need to take the PSVT:R by June 20.

We will speak with all students individually at the beginning of the fall semester to go over your academic study plan within Honors. You will know exactly what your requirements are and how our Honors courses fit into your curriculum at that time.



Any time you have an Honors-specific question, reach out to either Dr. Jeff Brown or Dr. Amy Williams. For questions that are degree program-specific, please reach out to the other advisor(s) listed on your account. Your program advisors are also the individuals who are able to lift "advisor must be seen" holds that might appear on your account.


To be assigned to the Honors Program LLC, incoming first-year students need to submit their Housing application and deposit by May 1.

Common Honors housing (our ) is a strong benefit of being in the program since it provides superb opportunities for academic support to/from your Honors peers, social networking and strong community building. We consider it foundational to the Honors Program experience. Therefore, we strongly encourage students admitted to Honors to take advantage of Honors housing.


Yes and no. There is not a scholarship specifically for being part of the Honors Program, however, our requirements closely align with many of the University’s eligibility criteria for their top scholarships. As a result, many of our students are eligible for and receive many of the University’s top academic scholarships.


Absolutely! During the middle of summer, we will have our Honors Program Peer Mentors reach out to incoming students. If you need help before then, please email Dr. Amy Williams. We will make sure to get someone in contact with you ASAP!


Some of our finest Honors Program students over the years have been in ROTC or athletics. Yes, it is entirely possible. Honors provides you with academic alternatives and, yes, additional academic demands, but it is all about time management, discipline and not becoming overextended (i.e., not too many clubs or club officer positions, etc.). That is true for any student.


Upon entering your second year at Embry‑Riddle, if you have a CGPA of at least 3.8 and less than 60 degree-applicable credit hours, you may be invited to apply to the Honors Program. Each year, during the fall semester, students who meet these criteria are notified that they are eligible to apply. Applications are then reviewed by a small committee within the student’s respective college and selections are made. It is a very competitive process, but it is possible to join following your freshman year.



All degree programs at Embry‑Riddle have a well-defined Honors curriculum for Honors Program students in their respective areas. Between 24-27 credit hours of Honors are embedded within the student’s overall curriculum (not additional to existing requirements). Honors courses replace some general education requirements, as well as meet standard requirements specific to the major.

If you wish to leave Honors (though that is very rare), please reach out to the Honors Program Leadership, Dr. Jeff Brown or Dr. Amy Williams, for further conversation. If you leave the program, you will not receive the honors program designation on your transcript or diploma upon graduation and will not continue receiving the other benefits.


Honors Program students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20, earn a semester GPA of at least 2.75, and complete all required co-curricular activities. The semester GPA requirement is monitored each term. Students who fall below the cumulative GPA requirement or fail to meet co-curricular requirements will be placed on Honors probation and given an opportunity to return to good standing. Failure to meet the minimum standards within the designated timeframe may result in removal from the Honors Program.

No, unfortunately you cannot join again in the future.

Contact Us

Dr. Jeff Brown
Professor and Director, Honors Program
Dr. Amy Williams
Associate Director, Honors Program