Undergraduate Honors Program

Welcome to the esteemed Undergraduate Honors Program within the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAEN). Our program is designed to provide a transformative academic experience for high-achieving students, offering a unique blend of advanced coursework, research opportunities, and specialized mentorship. With a commitment to excellence, we aim to cultivate future leaders in the field of biological and agricultural engineering.

BAEN Honors Worksheet (PDF)

Engineering Honors (EH) students in the biological and agricultural engineering (BAEN) department must satisfy the academic and participation requirements below.

We have also included a list of features available to EH-BAEN students and some curriculum notes.

Academic Requirements

Students must earn at least 18 hours of honors credits (undergraduate honors courses with HNR prefix or graduate courses) in courses offered by the Colleges of Engineering or Arts and Sciences.*

*Any math or science course offered by the College of Arts and Sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, or statistics) can be used to fulfill EH requirements, as long as it is approved as part of the student’s degree plan.

The Hours Must Consist of the Following

  • At least 12 hours must be engineering credit hours (including honors ENGR courses plus honors courses from all departments or majors)
  • No more than 6 hours of graduate courses registered for undergraduate credit
  • Between 4-6 hours of research (ENGR 491H)**
  • ENGR 181 — 1 credit hour EH seminar course

For ways to earn honors credit, please visit the general requirements page.

**Students can use no more than 6 hours of research toward the total 18 hours. 

Graduation Requirements

  • Complete a thesis with the Undergraduate Research Scholars (URS) Program
  • Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher
    • Earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher in honors courses
  • Receive no honor code violations

Participation Requirements

  • Honors meeting: Meet with an EH-BAEN department coordinator during each academic year
  • Activity: Participate in at least one EH activity each regular semester (view the EH calendar on this webpage for a list of upcoming events)
  • Annual Survey: Complete the EH Survey (sent out via email) in May of each year

Features of this Track

  • Renewable Academic Scholarship: Active EH-BAEN students are eligible to apply for an annual scholarship from the BAEN department.
  • Special Honors faculty advisors: The EH-BAEN department coordinator serves as an advisor for the students in EH-BAEN meets with each student in the program at least once during each academic year that the student is in residence on the Texas A&M College Station campus. Additionally, each EH scholar in the BAEN Track will be assigned a faculty mentor after their first semester in the program based on their research and career interests.
  • Other benefits: EH Scholars in BAEN have priority for paid summer and academic year research internships, special opportunities to interact with departmental industrial partners who have internship and full-time employment opportunities, opportunities to be peer teachers, and access to travel funds to attend technical conferences.

Curriculum Notes

  • Undergraduate research courses (BAEN 291H, BAEN 491H) and independent study courses (BAEN 285H, BAEN 485H) require prior approval in addition to the standard departmental procedures.
  • Any 600-level BAEN course can be used for honors credit except for BAEN 691.
  • EH Scholars may request to use 3 hours of BAEN 491H to replace the technical elective or one of the engineering electives in the BAEN degree plan.

Contact Us