Sams, Kristen. (2009). Honors College Program Criteria

The Honors College is designed for students who want to be challenged in every way possible scholastically. However, there are students who do not wish to be challenged more than they believe they need to be. The Honors College Program therefore needs a way to sort through and find those with that need and who want to be a part of the program while, at the same time, meet specific characteristics of the Honors College Program. The simple answer is to create an application process to find those students who meet the Honors College’s criteria. Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia has an application to distinguish those students. This application and the students are important aspects that help make a fully developed Honors College.

Southern Arkansas University’s Honors College application exists strictly to sort out students who meet the requirements. The application requires students to provide their GPAs and their ACT scores. The requirements to be accepted are to have a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher and an ACT score of 26 or higher. The application requires a copy of the student’s high school transcript, an essay written for a class in high school, and a short paper explaining the student’s interest in Honors College. Also, the student must provide one personal and one academic recommendation letter with the application. The GPA and ACT scores help to sort out the students who have a chance to be accepted. The essay and short paper provides a chance to see the student’s actual work. Recommendation letters determine whether the student is viewed by others as hardworking and worthy.

The students themselves are extremely important in making the Honors Program successful. Students who want to be challenged academically are excellent choices for the program. Although the Honors College may want to challenge every student, not every student wants to be academically challenged. Students who want to be challenged should have the opportunity to do so. The Honors Program’s criteria help to find those students and admit them into the challenging environment. Students who would not be able to keep up and those who refuse to work hard would be put into an unfair disadvantage if the Honors Program accepted everyone. Successful students make the Honors Program successful.

Southern Arkansas University as well as other colleges that seek certain requirements for their students will have a successful Honors Program. These criteria help colleges to find the successful students and, in turn, those students help make the Honors College successful.