Each year the Political Science Department holds a graduation ceremony, at which it recognizes students who have successfully defended their honors thesis and students who have been accepted into the political science honorary organization, Pi Sigma Alpha. The Department also recognizes the recipients of the William Scott Bryant Award for Interns, the Shepard Jones Undergraduate Award in International Relations, the L. Richardson Preyer Award for Excellence in Political Science, and the Terry Sanford Award for Excellence.

Pi Sigma Alpha is the national political science honorary society. Membership is restricted to those political science majors who have completed 15 hours of political science with an overall grade average of 3.2 or better and a political science grade average of 3.5 or better.

The William Scott Bryant Award is given to an outstanding undergraduate major to enable him or her to attend internship programs in Washington, D.C.

The Shepard Jones Undergraduate Award in International Relations is given to an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the best essay in international relations (any field and broadly defined).

The L. RIchardson Preyer Award for Excellence in Political Science is given to the undergraduate student judged by a committee of the faculty to have the most distinguished record of scholarship in Political Science and of service to the community.

The Terry Sanford Award for Excellence is given to the undergraduate student judged to have written the best political science honors thesis.