University Scholars must meet the same competency requirements in math, writing, and foreign language required of all undergraduates.

Also, like all students, as a University Scholar you must complete a major and have 180 credits to graduate, including 60 credits in courses numbered 3000 or above, eight credits of which must be “W” credits.

UScholars must also complete three Foundations courses and the math requirement in the Exploratory Curriculum.

However, in place of the Common and Exploratory Curricula, University Scholars are required to take a special sequence of USCH courses.

University Foundations (15 Credits)
Click on the courses below for a description

Special Features and Conditions of the Program

1. Prior to enrolling in USCH 3910 Faith and Science I, University Scholars must satisfy the lab science requirement with PHY 1111, 1101 or 1121. (Credit received for AP, IB, or CLEP Physics will not fulfill this requirement.) Alternatively, if students have taken physics in high school, they may satisfy this requirement with any college-level, lab-science course, such as BIO 1101 at the Blakely Island Field Station.
2. University Scholars will take a special honors section of UFDN 1000 together during their sophomore year. They will then enroll in any section of UFDN 2000 and 3100 that best fits their schedule.
3. University Scholars must select a 5-credit mathematics course from the list of approved courses in the Exploratory Curriculum. This course may be taken any time it fits into a student’s schedule and prerequisites have been met. (AP Calculus and/or AP Statistics with a sufficiently high score will also satisfy this requirement.)
4. The Honors Project involves four credits of individual scholarly work in a subject related to a student's major, undertaken with the assistance of two faculty mentors and completed during the senior year. Projects or papers that fulfill this requirement must meet disciplinary standards, discuss the relationship of faith and learning, be approved by the director of University Scholars, and be completed prior to graduation. Honors Projects are given special recognition at Commencement.
5. University Scholars are required to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.2 or better to remain in the program.
6. Students who wish to leave the program must submit a letter of resignation to the director. They will immediately become subject to the Common Curriculum and Exploratory Curriculum requirements. They will not lose credit previously earned by successful completion of examinations, such as CLEP or Running Start. University Scholars courses taken in the first and second year transfer into either the Common Curriculum or the Exploratory Curriculum at Seattle Pacific.
7. Special service to the SPU community should be a high priority for University Scholars. Each year, the graduating senior who most exemplifies the high ideals of the USCH program is honored with the Wesley E. Lingren Award in honor of the founding director.

For more information about the University Scholars program, refer to the University Undergraduate Catalog. You may also contact Jeff Keuss, director of University Scholars, at keussj@spu.edu or 206-281-2093.