The George Center For Honors Studies
Scholarship. Excellence. Honor.
Look to the Honors Studies curriculum to help create meaning in your life and community. Stretch your mind and understanding of cultural environments to make an ethical, intellectual, and spiritual sense of the world. Discover and define your path. Find your calling. Learn to make choices that make a difference.
The George Center for Honors Studies offers an alternative general education curriculum to ambitious high school students. The program aims to enrich the academic experience of high-ability undergraduate students, offering numerous educational and intellectual opportunities and challenges. Honors students can pursue a broad liberal education and create an individualized program of study.
Admission
Greensboro College waives the usual overload charge for enrolling in more than 18 credit hours per semester.
Admission Criteria for the Honors Program
To be considered for Honor’s program, a student must:
- Apply and be accepted into the College
- Complete the Honors Program form
Presidential Scholarship
The Presidential Scholarship is the college’s top award for merit and is valued at full tuition. Four available for fall 2025.
To be considered:
- Apply and be accepted to the College
- Apply and be accepted into the George Center for Honors Studies
- Earn a weighted cumulative GPA of 4.0 or greater
The Honors Program will contact finalists for an interview on Friday and Saturday, February 23 – 24. The second date will be March 23. Notification by April 1, 2025
Only first year students are eligible for consideration. The scholarship has a residential component.
Transfer Students
If you are transferring from another college to Greensboro College with a grade point average of 3.25 or higher, you may participate in the program by contacting the program director. If you have missed the First-Year Honors Sequence, we will ask that you demonstrate writing proficiency.
Students who enter the program during their sophomore year must successfully complete 20 hours of honors work consisting of the Second-Year Honors Sequence (HON 2010 and 2020), HON 3010, HON 3030, and HON 4800.
Retention
To remain in good standing in the Honors program, students must:
- Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
- First-year students must complete the First-Year Honors Sequence.
- Second-year students must complete the Second-Year Honors Sequence.
- Third-year students must complete HON 3010.
- Participate in extracurricular activities.
- Conduct themselves in the Spirit of the Honors program, which is the pursuit of academic excellence.
*No honors work may be taken Pass/Fail*
Honors Thesis Information
For your Honor’s Thesis, there are boundless options… within boundaries! We are open to new, creative ideas for your project.
Three main parameters:
- Does the project fit with your major?
- Is it going to show that you have done some in-depth study?
- Is it going to be extraordinary, meaning above and beyond the requirements for graduation in your major?
Previous theses are bound and available for review in the George Center for Honors Studies. Examples of previous thesis projects include:
- Library and archival research
- Scientific and social science experiments
- Art exhibitions, musical, and theatrical performances
If an honors student is majoring in an academic discipline that requires its own senior project, the student would not be required to complete both the senior project in the major and the honors thesis. Instead, the student would be expected to craft a single project in such a way as to satisfy both requirements. Such a project would be crafted in consultation with and would require the formal approval of the student’s faculty mentor, the appropriate academic department chair, and the Honors Committee.
Deadlines
Thesis Prospectus
The thesis prospectus must be formally approved by the George Center for Honors Studies. Students enrolling in HON 475 during the fall semester must submit the prospectus for approval to the Director of the George Center for Honors Studies no later than Monday of the third week of classes that semester.
Those enrolling in HON 475 during the spring semester must submit the prospectus no later than Monday of the 14th week of classes the preceding (fall) semester. Before its submission to the Director, the prospectus must be formally approved by the thesis advisor and formally reviewed by the Chair of the Department of English, Communication, and Media Studies, who will review the prospectus for grammar, style, and form.
Abstract of the Thesis
The abstract must be submitted to the Director of the George Center for Honors Studies no later than Friday of the 12th week of classes during the semester the student is enrolled in HON 475. The thesis itself must be submitted to the Director no later than Reading Day of that semester.
Formal Oral Presentation
During the 14th week of classes during that semester, the student must summarize the completed project in a 10-20 minute formal oral presentation. The presentation will be open to all faculty, staff, and students of the College. The exact day and time of the presentation will be arranged by the Director.
Graduation Requirements
Transcripts and diplomas will show that a student has successfully completed the honors degree program. In addition, honors program graduates are recognized at Commencement, and their names are listed separately in the Commencement program along with the titles of their theses. Students in the honors degree program may also qualify for Academic Honors based upon their cumulative grade point average.
Requirements for Graduation with an Honors Degree include:
Academic Excellence
You will find four years of special curricular and extracurricular opportunities and an emphasis on intellectual and personal development. Your coursework is exclusive to the Honors Program and team-taught by two professors!. Courses are interdisciplinary in nature, meaning you will study the human condition in all its dimensions: traditional studies in classical literature and philosophy will incorporate views of the social sciences and the arts. The Honors curriculum is dedicated to your intellectual development through the pursuit of academic excellence in the dual traditions of the liberal arts and the Judeo-Christian faith.
28 Hours of Honors Coursework
Students entering the program as first-year students must successfully complete 28 hours of honors work consisting of the First-Year Honors Sequence (HON 1010 and 1020), and subsequently the Second-Year Honors Sequence (HON 2010 and 2020), HON 3010, HON 3030, and HON 4800.
20 Hours of the Second-Year Honors Sequence
The Second-Year Honors Sequence consist of HON 2010 and 2020, and subsequently HON 3010, HON 3030, and HON 4800. Students who enter the program during their sophomore year must successfully complete 20 hours of honors work consisting of the Second-Year Honors Sequence.
Advanced Placement Credit
Your completed coursework will serve you well at Greensboro College, but because of the distinct serial nature of the program, some of your AP courses and/or completed college work may not apply to the program’s requirements.
AP Courses and the Honors College: Courses designated as HON may not be exempted through AP credit. Credit will instead be awarded in the following manner:
- AP English: First-year honors students presenting an AP English examination score of 4 or 5 will receive 4 hours of elective credit for a 2000-level literature course.
- AP History: First-year honors students presenting appropriate AP examination scores will receive credit and exemption according to normal College policy. (Please see the “Advanced Placement” section of the Academic Catalog for the complete College policy regarding Advanced Placement.)
Student Honors Committee
Make a difference and play along the way. The George Center for Honors Studies is more than an academic regimen. The Student Honors Committee plans a variety of extracurricular activities; in the past, these activities have included attending theatre, publishing a website, blogging, community service (nearby and country-wide), white water rafting, and traveling to Washington, D.C., among other special interests. You can join the fun and make your honors experience what you want it to be.
