In brief, Honors students take six courses in the course of the Program. Two are required and four are electives. Students must develop and pursue an honors project in at least one major and must participate in the Senior Honors Colloquium. All students must achieve at least a 3.5 overall GPA by graduation.

Students are required to take Great Works of the Western World I and II in their first year at McDaniel.These two courses will fulfill part of student's work in the Integrated Liberal Arts general eduation requirements. Great Works I satisfies the Textual Analysis Critical Inquiry, and Great Works II counts for one Social, Cultural, and Historical Critical Inquiry course.

Over the next three years, honors students are required to take four honors electives. These electives will usually count towards a course in the Integrated Liberal Arts course of study. It is advisable that students take two courses in the sophomore and junior years, but it is not mandatory to do so. Students who study abroad may count their study abroad experience as one honors elective per semester, or two honors electives for a single semester in the case of the University of Glasgow Honors Program.

Students who graduate from the Honors Program must also pursue a departmental honors project. The types of projects and the requirements for honors in the major differ by department. It is the student's responsibility to pursue the departmental honors requirements.

Students are also required to participate in the one-credit Senior Honors Colloquium. Held in the spring semester of the senior year, honors students share their departmental honors projects with each other to round out their liberal arts experience.