Community College Honors
Programs:
What’s the Deal?
Community College
Honors Programs
Of 800 schools in the National
Collegiate Honors Council, 20% are
community colleges
One-third of the 2-year colleges that
offer honors programs are comparable
to those found at smaller universities
Difference Between High School
Honors and College Honors
The general distinction between high school
and college honors courses:
High School Classes Are Distinguished
from Non-Honors
 Greater amount of work
required
 The faster “accelerated”
speed at which they
progress.
College Honors Classes Are Designed
to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
 student-centered education
 help students develop their own
ideas
 encourage innovation in an
atmosphere of open exchange,
where students’ views are solicited
and respected.
 more opportunities for contacts
outside of the traditional classroom
setting – more instructor contact,
research, etc.
Focus of the Community College Honors
Program
Prepare students to continue studies at a four-year school
by offering more personalized services:




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Transfer appropriate curriculum
Enrollment priority
Smaller classes
Great and dedicated instructors
Find hidden scholars
and……
Focus of the Community College
Honors Program
 Maintain transfer
“priority agreements with
colleges and universities
 Honors students can
seamlessly transition
from a two-year school to
university life.
Why Students Use Community College
Honors Programs as a Strategy
 Save Money!
 Second chance - didn’t get the offer from high school
try as a transfer and plan to use one or multiple
contracts, TAP, TAG (in CA)
 Don’t want to bother with all the high school college
prep – SAT/ACT, college applications, stress, etc.
 Not ready for university (or the parents aren’t ready)
Resource for California Community
College Honors Programs
Honors Transfer Council of California (HTCC) – Over 60 CCC
memberships
 Negotiates special transfer agreements linking community
college honors/scholars’ programs to specific universities,
large or small, public and private.
 Students enjoy enhanced transfer consideration at the
partner campus:
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priority acceptance consideration
special scholarships
housing priority
and a range of other academic and social benefits such as
library privileges even before transfer
Benefits for Transfer Schools
 Students are well-prepared for the university
experience. Honors courses encourage
analytical/critical thinking.
 Students are motivated and driven (many are top
students academically—but not all)
 Allows community colleges to recruit and encourages
students non-traditional populations to prepare and
apply to elite universities (UCLA TAP agreement seeks
underrepresented, non-traditional, first generation).
Sample of How this Works
Santa Monica College Scholars
Program
 Students submit Scholars Application
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Must have English 1 eligibility
3.0 high school or college GPA
No more than 30 college units
completed
Essay/writing sample
 At SMC we have decided to cast a wide
net and capture many groups,
including those that are targeted by
UCLA – keep the GPA criteria low

{Some community colleges want to have
a program that highlights the high
achieving student (higher GPA criteria)
more “elite” type program}
Completion of SMC Scholars Program
 Students complete 15 semester units
of honors courses
 Must meet target GPA
 SMC certifies completion
 Universities give priority
consideration (SMC’s largest honors
transfer schools are UCLA, UCI,
Loyola Marymount University)
Transfer Statistics for SMC Scholars
Program
Transfer
Year
UCLA Transfer
Students From
SMC
Scholars
Certified
(TAP)
UCI Transfer
Students
from SMC
UCI Scholars
Certified
(TAP)
UC Berkeley
Transfer
Students from
SMC
UC Berkeley
Scholars (No
TAP/Scholars
Agreement)
Fall 2008
1547 applied
650 admitted
190 certified
178 admitted
131
N/A
N/A
N/A
Fall 2009
1765 applied
600 admitted
200 certified
182 admitted
93
44
N/A
N/A
Fall 2010
1875 applied
663 admitted
223 certified
203 admitted
103
55
N/A
N/A
Fall 2011
1947 applied
???? admitted
219 certified
192 admitted
N/A
44
N/A
N/A
Fall 2012
1881 applied
726 admitted
232 certified
211 admitted
553 applied
114 admitted
51 certified
49 admitted
N/A
N/A
Fall 2013
1790 applied
592 admitted
205 certified
182 admitted
1053 applied
551 admitted
96 certified
84 admitted
1027 applied
237 admitted
(23%)
174 applied
73 admitted
(41%)