Honors Program
The Honors Program at Central College encourages student creativity, intellectual engagement and leadership. Beginning broadly, honors at Central gradually focuses by helping students move toward greater independence, more advanced work in a discipline and increased leadership responsibilities.
First-year students with a high school cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or a ranking in the top 5 percent of their class are honors-eligible. ACT scores are not required to be eligible.
The Main Features
- Honors seminars. Honors seminars group honors-eligible students together to explore topics at an advanced level. Included in these are honors seminars for first-year students taking Intersections, Central’s common course for all incoming first year students.
- Honors enrichment credits. Honors-eligible students may opt to add enrichment credit to courses in which they have special interest. In doing so, the student has the opportunity to work closely with a professor and pursue a topic in the course at a more advanced level.
- A senior honors thesis. The thesis is carried out within the student’s major department and culminates in a public presentation.
Goals of Honors at Central
- To foster intellectual curiosity, to promote academic excellence throughout Central College and to sustain this community of scholars;
- to provide an avenue for those with significant leadership potential to serve both the college and the community at large;
- to foster mentoring relationships between students and faculty;
- to make students aware of alternative career paths, courses of study, and programs that engage their individual gifts and talents; and
- to help students prepare for graduate and professional school, academic fellowships and scholarships.
Honors Designation on Your Transcript
Honors-eligible students completing a senior honors project will be awarded an honors designation on their transcript.
The Benefits
- Life skills that put you ahead of the game: special classes and opportunities which encourage you to think, plan and articulate creatively and critically.
- Opportunities for leading campus-wide programs on significant issues.
- Opportunities for developing leadership skills.
- Membership in a special community that values divergent thinking. Students in honors at Central are offered exclusive opportunities to meet speakers and host guests of the college, and to travel to special off-campus events such as plays, performances, readings, museums and galleries.
- Mentoring relationships with faculty in your area of interest.
- Opportunity to work with a designated fellowship coordinator who will assist in gathering timely information and providing guidance in preparing applications for graduate and professional schools, and other post-graduate programs and scholarships.
- Honors designation on your transcript. This prestigious award is an important indicator of your abilities and will be looked upon favorably by professionals, employers and graduate schools.
Supporting the Mission of Central College
In upholding our mission, we strive to enable students to reach their highest potential. Honors at Central is directed toward academically talented students and works specifically to sustain them.
The program is coordinated by the Honors Committee, a three-member faculty committee.
Contact them at:
The Honors Committee
Office of Academic Affairs
Telephone: 641-628-5605
