The Honors College has received additional funding to increase the number of classes offered next semester, but honors students have not noticed the impact.
Provost George Davis granted the Honors College about $100,000 to be used to increase the number of honors sections offered or to hire more faculty members to teach honors sections next semester, said Patricia MacCorquodale, dean of the college.
"Our goal is 100 more faculty members supported by this," MacCorquodale said.
The college approached the Provost's Office because students said they were struggling to get into honors classes.
"Students have reported that one of the problems with graduating with honors is finding enough classes," MacCorquodale said.
But students who already registered for spring semester said they did not notice the increase.
Daniel Arana, a pre-business freshman, said none of the classes he tried to register for was offered with honors sections.
"I'd like to be able to get into the classes I want, but business honors are some of the hard ones to find," Arana said.
Most students earn their honors credits from general education classes, English composition classes, and their senior thesis or capstone projects, MacCorquodale said.
She added that the need for more honors courses is greatest in the Colleges of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the College of Fine Arts.
The increase in funding will allow departments to use the money to help more students access honors classes within their major areas of study, MacCorquodale said.
Some students who cannot get into honors classes have had to sign contracts with their professors for extra work or different projects so they can receive the honors distinction.
"(Contracting) is like taking an extra class," said Jordan Brinkmoeller, a creative writing and English sophomore.
"It's more convenient to start in an honors class so there's no extra paperwork," said Brodie Davis, a pre-business sophomore.
Brinkmoeller said she thinks the increased funding could help, but may not impact her personally.
"It depends if the money is going towards English classes, because that's basically all I'm taking," Brinkmoeller said.
Amelia Hinsdale, a literature and political science sophomore, said she was still frustrated when she registered for spring classes.
"The availability of classes seems ... not good," Hinsdale said.
She was able to register for 19 units, but she said it was difficult.
"I'm taking a TRAD because two honors seats opened up after I registered. It's not the one I wanted to take, but it's honors," Hinsdale said. "It's making me question why I'm at a big university. They don't make it easy to get into classes."