The SUNY Oswego Honors Program consists of a core of courses designed to stimulate students' intellectual growth and develop their analytical abilities. Unlike traditional courses, which present material from a single field of study, Honors Program courses draw ideas and information from many fields, addressing concerns common to all disciplines and recognizing that there are no boundaries to thought and inquiry. Honors Program courses examine the historical and intellectual origins, the growth, and the development of today's issues, the connections among them, and their consequences for tomorrow. The Program emphasizes small classes and the lively exchange of ideas in the classroom. The Honors Program seeks out faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, who are especially skilled in their fields, who are interested in thinking across disciplines, and who are committed to working with students in a variety of formal and informal settings. Honors Program students are advised by the Honors Director and by faculty members in the student's major field of study. Students enjoy a close relationship with Honors faculty and with each other in a network of academic and personal support.

Honors Program students have access to all of SUNY Oswego's facilities. This is one of the great benefits of the Honors Program: while students enjoy the advantages of a small, challenging program, they have access to all the resources of a major university, including an internationally-respected faculty, a library with over one million holdings, fully-equipped computer labs, and a wide range of student services.

Students in the Honors Program can major in any area the College offers and take the same number of credits for graduation as every other SUNY Oswego student. Honors Program students take 18 hours in the Honors Core (Western Intellectual Heritage, American Intellectual Heritage, Introduction to the Social Sciences, Introduction to Literature and the Arts, Natural Science in the Human Context, In Search of Meaning), as well as courses in a language, lab science, English, and math. (Note that, if an Advanced Placement course covers the same material as an Honors Program course, the AP course will fulfill the Honors requirement. So, for example, a student with AP credit in calculus or a lab science already will have met those particular requirements.) In addition, students in the Honors Program explore a subject of their choice in depth with a faculty advisor - usually within their major - by writing an Honors thesis.

To graduate from the Honors Program, students must have a 3.0 GPA overall, a 3.3 GPA in their major, and a 3.3 in the Honors Core (Honors 140, 141, 200, 201, 300, and 301). Successful completion of the Honors Program requirements is noted at graduation and is recorded on the student's transcript.

Freshmen are selected each May for the Honors Program on the basis of their high school average and their SAT scores. Sophomores and first-year students who are not selected may also apply for admission.