Honors ProgramHonors Program

The Mount Aloysius College Honors Program is designed for students of all academic disciplines who enjoy critical and synthetic thinking and problem solving within an environment of highly interactive learning. The goal of the Honors Program is to create a community of scholars desiring to enhance each other's understanding of human living within our world. The Honors Program is supervised by the Academic Dean and the Director of Educational Enrichment. An Honors Program Committee will assist the Director.

Admission into the Honors Program is dependent upon acceptance into Mount Aloysius College. Entry to the Mount Aloysius College Honors Program will be based initially upon the student's minimum combined SAT score of 1050 (25 ACT score) or a combined SAT score of 1000 (23 ACT score) and a high school QPA of at least 3.6. These students will be placed into the Mount Aloysius College Foundation Course: Honors Section. Students with high school QPAs of 3.6 or above may request and complete the Student Application Form for Mount Aloysius College Honors Program and his/her candidacy will be considered by an Honors Committee. An interview with the Honors Program Director is not required but is highly recommended.

Freshman students who have successfully completed one semester of study at Mount Aloysius College may be recommended to participate in the Honors Program through the Faculty Recommendation for Mount Aloysius College Honor Program form. These students will be notified of their recommendation and will be invited to complete the Student Application Form for Mount Aloysius College Honors Program. The application will be reviewed by the Honors Program Director and students will be notified concerning their acceptance prior to spring registration.

Students who meet the admissions criteria but are not participants in the Honors Program may select to take honors courses; these courses will be designated as honors on the students' transcripts. Honors courses provide an in-depth, creative investigation of subject matter in a seminar format. The Honors courses, to date, include:

Freshman Year:	MAC Foundation Course: Honors (3 credits)
Sophomore Year:	The Self and Beyond: Psychology/Spirituality (6 credits)
Junior Year:	Human Search for Meaning: The Epic Quest (3 credits)
Senior Year:	Capstone: Honors (3 credits)

Program Requirements: Students in the Honors Program must meet the following requirements:

1. Maintain an overall 3.25 GPA. A student falling below the 3.25 GPA will be placed on one (1) semester of Honors Program probation during which he/she may attempt to raise the GPA in order to remain in good standing.
2. Attend the required convocations. Generally, one (1) convocation each semester is required, with additional convocation opportunities offered. Convocations have included trips to theater productions, visits to national historic sites and to art and history museums.
3. Successfully complete a minimum of nine (9) credits of honors work (or six credits of honors work and an Honors Thesis) and attend four honors-designated convocations with appropriate written work in order to graduate with Honors Program status in the associate degree program.
4. Successfully complete a minimum of fifteen (15) credits of honors work (or twelve credits of honors work and an Honors Thesis) and attend eight honors-designated convocations with appropriate written work to graduate with Honors Program status in the bachelors degree program.

National Membership

Mount Aloysius College is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council. The main objective of this Council is the promotion and advancement of honors and similar educational programs in American colleges and universities.